


RWBY Destiny of Remnant Fall Special

by UGX7



Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Anthology, Blood and Gore, Creepy, Gen, Ghosts, Halloween, Halloween Special, Horror, Mystery, Post-Volume 3 (RWBY), Scooby Doo References, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-03
Updated: 2019-10-26
Packaged: 2020-11-22 20:51:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 55,282
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20880482
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UGX7/pseuds/UGX7
Summary: Tonight is the night of the Fall Equinox, a time of fear, mischief, ghost stories, harvesting crops, and devouring candy.The various teams of Beacon Academy gather around in the library and exchange tales of terror to scare each other.Team CFVY tell a story of an abandoned farming town, where everyone has seemingly vanished without a trace.Team RWBY recall an adventure in a decrepit mansion they investigate after the family living there vanished, and find it plagued by strange noises, lights moving through, and monsters, ghosts and chase scenes.Jaune reads disturbing entries from his ancestor's journal, telling of a vengeful spirit that haunted Luc Arc for something he and his team did many years ago. Something they would never be forgiven for.Outside, the cold wind blows.The shattered moon is bright and pale.The time has come to tell the tales.





	1. Alcyone's Nightmare

**Author's Note:**

> Here's the second of the four seasonal DOR specials, this time it's a Halloween special for the Autumn. Hope you enjoy horror anthologies or The Simpsons and Regular Show Halloween specials, because we're presenting you three spooky stories set in my RWBY: DOR universe!
> 
> For those of you who haven't read Destiny of Remnant, I hope you'll change that, but it's not necessary to read this three chapter story. Originally it was going to be a one-shot, but I decided the three segments would be too long together, so decided to split it into chapters.
> 
> Very special thanks to Cosmic Fiction, who wrote this first segment while I edited it and wrote the opening.

Remnant was well into Autumn; the air was colder, the trees throughout the Kingdoms had turned from rich greens to vibrant shades of red, yellow, brown, orange and gold. All over the world farmers were finishing up with their harvests, before the frost had a chance to come in. The days grew shorter and the nights longer, and in many villages, families would gather around the fireplace to listen to the elder members tell stories, tales of strange adventures and unusual happenings, of things that could only be described as supernatural.

As the farmers tended to their fields, tractors and other heavy machinery reaping the harvest, they all did it, hoping to get done by the Fall Equinox, heralded by the twilight sky becoming shades of orange and the nights darker, with the air smelling vaguely of smoke.

The Fall Equinox was one of the four major holidays celebrated all across Remnant, one for each season. It was a day to mark the occasion for the end of the harvest, and on many nights the farm workers would use discarded, rotten crops or old pieces of debris to create large bonfires and dance around them, to have fun after a long day of hard work.

But, some would argue the more important aspect of the holiday was in its alternate name, 'The Day of the Dead', a day to respect those who had been lost, be it a natural passing or killed by a malicious person or a Creature of Grimm, to remember them and cherish those memories. In addition, it was tradition for children to dress up in costumes and go out as the sun went down and go out among their towns for a beloved ritual called 'Trick or Treat'.

The story children were told was that the boundary between the land of the living and the land of the dead grew quite weak on this day, and the spirits of the people who had died in the past year would break out of the spirit realm to revisit the lives they once had. Pumpkins were carved up and decorated with faces and candles, 'To light the way for them so they know how to get back,' the childrens' parents and grandparents would tell them. The children were also told that these spirits were hungry, ghosts are always hungry, and so the children needed to go to door to door and collect the sweets so the ghosts wouldn't steal them, and dress up in costumes to scare the ghosts back on track to return to the Realm of the Dead.

It was a night of fun, mischief and, most of all, fear. This fear could range for thrilling enjoyment...to genuine horror. And all of the Kingdoms and the islands and tribes celebrated this occasion, and the newly reopened Beacon Academy was no exception.

Costumed students made their way about the campus, going to parties or gatherings to tell stories or cause mischief.

Every year, Doctor Oobleck would hold a special gathering in the library, for everyone to eat candy and exchange tales of the supernatural and scary stories, and Team Beacon, made up of Teams RWBY, JNPR, CFVY, SSSN and Penny were in attendance with many first year students, as well as newcomer Professor Crane.

"And so, my mom quickly shut the door, her face pale, as she heard the breathing coming from inside my closet too!" Sun said, telling everyone of a frightening encounter he had experienced about five years ago.

Ruby, Penny and Nora, as well as most of the first year students, all leaned forward in rapt attention.

"Wh-what was it?" A female student asked nervously.

"Well, my mom got spray she used to kill Rapier Wasps and yanked the door open, spraying inside the closet to try and provoke whatever was inside before slamming it shut. And then I put my ears against the door trying to hear whatever it was, and then I realized the breathing sound was vaguely familiar. So I opened the door and dug deep into my messy closet, and found out that it was just an old toy sword I had, the sound chip was damaged so the clanging sound was messed up to sound like breathing." Sun explained, brave enough to admit what many would see as an embarrassing anecdote.

Almost everyone present laughed, the tension of the first year students relieved somewhat by the humorous ending to the tale. Ruby, with Zwei sitting on her lap, laughed with Penny before she devoured another cookie.

Most of Team Beacon had chosen to dress up for the holiday, with Ruby dressed up as a wolf, Weiss wearing a rather nice white old dress, and Yang had used a lot of her own clothes to dress up as a biker babe. Blake, who had pointed out that Yang's costume was just how she would normally dress on days off, had elected to go as a witch. She smiled at Sun's story as he came over to sit next to her, his team nearby.

Team SSSN had chosen to dress up as the Knights of Grimm, a group of anti-heroes from a popular and acclaimed animated series, with Sun going as the ruthless Death, Neptune dressing up as the reluctant Sorrow (he had to insist on a genderbent version, he refused to crossdress), Scarlet as the sinister scarecrow-like figure known as Fear, and Sage as the fiery berserker Rage.

"Wow man, I never thought you'd tell that story in public," Neptune remarked to his partner.

The Monkey Faunus smirked and teasingly replied "I was thinking of changing it up and having a shark come out."

"Oh come on, Sun! What would a shark be doing in the closet of a small home in a desert town?" Neptune asked, "There's no logic in that."

"No, but I get the feeling you'll be looking under your bed for sharks tonight!" Sage joked.

Jaune and Pyrrha laughed at the exchange. The young knight and his thankfully-alive partner had decided to go as vampires, with fake fangs and bloody dots painted on their necks. While Jaune wore his regular clothes, Pyrrha wore a black blouse, to give off the image of a seductive vampiress.

Pyrrha sighed happily as she cuddled into Jaune, resting against the bookshelves. "Having a good time?" He asked.

"The best Fall Equinox I've had in years. My agents and image consultants always insisted I wore my old armor whenever I attended parties like this back at Sanctum." The Spartan explained, "Couldn't go as a zombie or vampire like I could when I was a kid and everyone was either too intimidated to sit with me or wanted to sit with me to make themselves look good."

"Well, you don't have to worry about that anymore." Jaune promised as he offered her a piece of chocolate. Pyrrha smiled and opened her mouth, allowing Jaune to place it on her tongue.

"Yeah, Pyr! So just kick back and enjoy the candy!" Nora agreed before shoving a handful of candy into her mouth, gobbling it down. The energetic redhead was dressed up as the Tree Witch, a legend from Mistral, with flowers and branches taped and glued to her brown leotard.

Ren, dressed up as a skeleton, sighed and said "I don't know where she puts it all."

"Energy, obviously," Coco, who was using the belly dancer outfit from the White Fang mission as a costume, "Speaking of which, nice costume Nora. I don't see the tree witch costume very often. You guys could have put some more effort into your costumes."

"Well, it was either a skeleton or dress up as the Tree Witch's nymph minion, and I don't like the idea of stripping down to my underwear and painting myself brown." Ren justified.

"Spoilsport." Nora managed to say with a cute pout after she swallowed her candy.

"And Nora suggested me and Pyrrha go as a barbarian king and queen, but I don't think walking around half naked in this chilly air would be a good idea. Plus, I think Pyrrha in a skimpy top and loincloth would be a dangerous example of weaponized sexiness." Jaune joked, making Pyrrha blush.

"Hey, I'm weaponized sexiness!" Yang interjected, getting a laugh out of everyone.

"Having fun, Penny?" Ruby asked the robot girl, who was dressed up as a zombie with a bloodied face and a fake knife in her chest.

"Oh yes Ruby! The stories have been most thrilling! This was everything you promised it would be." Penny told her friend cheerfully.

"Making sure she's having a good night?" Weiss asked her partner.

"You bet! I'm making sure Penny has great first holidays, the Summer Solstice was a success, and the Fall Equinox is going good so far. I'm already planning out the Winter Solstice." Ruby voiced excitedly.

"That's my little sis for ya, never one to slack off." Yang remarked.

"However, I must admit the none of the stories so far have been terrifying, as I have been led to believe they'd be." Penny stated.

"I guess once you've gone through what we have it's hard for ghost stories to affect us." Blake surmised with a shrug.

"You don't believe in ghosts?" Ruby asked the Cat Faunus.

"I'm really not sure. Clau-My grandfather," she corrected herself, would tell me spooky stories, reading out of an anthology book from his old library every year. Thankfully he gave them Aunt Kali before he went into hiding, so he has them once again and he's putting them to good use, Aunt Kali said he's basically become Menagerie's official storyteller and has been telling scary stories every night for the last week."

"Nice to see the old cat's holding up," Sun commented, "But to be honest Ruby, I don't really believe in ghosts."

"I must admit, the evidence in favor of them is rather sparse and they've yet to be totally proven scientifically." Penny said to her friend.

Velvet, dressed up as a maid, smiled as she overheard this. She took something out of her bag, a small red ball, and looked to her teammates. Yatsuhashi, dressed in samurai armor, glanced at the ball and nodded.

"I suppose it's now or never, Velvet." He told her.

"Well, we could have told everyone anytime we wanted, but it's probably more in the holiday spirit to tell the story now, I guess." Remarked Fox, who elected not to dress up for the occasion.

"So we're all telling it, right?" Velvet whispered.

"That's what we agreed on, let's spread the word." Coco voiced.

Pyrrha chewed the candy and glanced down to see the old book in Jaune's lap, bound in old, worn leather.

"So, are you going to read it?" She asked him.

"Still debating. The stuff in here is pretty intense, there's a good reason my dad had to run it by Ozpin before he showed it to me," Jaune told his partner as he lifted up the journal and sighed, "Still, I think our team needs to know what's in here."

Meanwhile, sitting in the center of the library, Dr. Oobleck and Professor Crane smiled at the site of happy costumed students, having a good time.

"I must say, Bartholomew, it's wonderful that you kept the old tradition going. Oh this take me back to the nights our team had, telling macabre tales around the fire in the main square of Beacon." Crane reminisced, before adding, "It's a shame Port couldn't be here."

"Well, someone had to be out on patrol to make sure none of the more nefarious students don't deface school property. Oh well, let's see who will tell the next tale," Oobleck said before stepping out in front of the students. "Attention please! Attention!"

Everyone went quiet.

"Thank you! It's time for the next story, who would like to go next?" Oobleck asked, surveying the costumed crowd.

"Us, Doctor!" Coco volunteered as she and her team stood up.

"Ah, splendid! A collaborative effort." Oobleck observed as the third year team came up, more than a few boys and girls admiring Coco and Velvet's outfits.

"Okay, we just overheard some of our friends say they don't know if they believe in ghosts. Well, up until a week before the Battle of Haven, we didn't either. Velvet was the only one of us who did," Coco began as Velvet took out the ball and showed it to everyone.

"What's with the ball?" Jaune inquired.

"You'll find out," Fox said in a creepy voice.

And with that, they began to tell the tale.

* * *

**Alcyone's Nightmare**

The ashes of Beacon Academy had finally settled, but the smell of smoke still lingered.

Pharos Academy was not far, and the smoke could still be seen even now. They could hear the distant howls of the Grimm, still see the Grimm Dragon that was frozen atop Beacon Tower. The Academy was for Primary Combat Students, and it was where the journey for Team CFVY began.

And with Beacon Academy destroyed and Vale's nearest districts Evacuated, it was the only place that Team CFVY could go to spar.

Yatsuhashi slammed his sword, Kyodiana Buredo, down towards Fox, who crossed his Tonfas together, staring up at him with gritted teeth. He fell to one knee, until he suddenly jumped upwards. Fox slammed his knee upwards into Yatsuhashi's jaw, making him grunt and stagger back, growling as he swung round and caught his friend by the collar after he jumped towards him. The towering Huntsman let out a deafening bellow, swinging him round and throwing him like a toy. Fox crashed into the ground, tumbling back to his feet, staring straight at him through his falling strands of dark red hair before swiftly charging towards his sparring partner.

Watching from the benches were Coco and Velvet.

"How long have they been going now?" Coco asked as she returned, bringing some coffee for the two of them. Velvet accepted hers with a smile, and Coco sat down next to her Faunus Friend.

"About half an hour now, you know them. Too stubborn to give up." Velvet giggled as she watched them clash together.

Fox blasted towards Yatsuhashi, slashing his razor sharp Tonfas with great speed and force, spinning through the air like a saw-blade. Yatsuhashi backed up, blocking the oncoming strikes, bringing his massive sword downwards with all his might. But Fox slid underneath his swing, taking Sharp Retribution and spinning them the other way so then the blades were pointed backwards. He punched Yatsuhashi in the back with both closed fists, and then he lunged forward, slashing at his aura over and over again, grunting and barking with every strike.

Yatsuhashi could take the hits though, he could do it all day, and he waited for his opportunity. Fox yelled and swung towards his face with his fist, only for Yatsuhashi to catch his wrist, staring him right in the eyes.

"Oh shit." Fox muttered before Yatsuhashi punched him right in his face. The Scarred Huntsman flew across the courtyard, and slammed against one of the Training Pillars. He bounced off it and groaned, pushing his hand against his knee to slowly get back up.

"Do you yield?" Yatsuhashi asked him curiously, Fox flicked his hair back a, grimace on his tanned face.

"Nope." He replied, suddenly jumping upwards and performing an impressive uppercut on Yatsuhashi, who staggered back from the blow. Both Velvet and Coco flinched from that one.

"Ouch." Coco jolted.

"I get we're supposed to train, but…do these two actually get anything out of this?" Velvet wondered.

"I know I do…" Coco purred. Velvet furrowed her brow, turning to her lustful friend. She was practically drooling over the thought of them.

"You're picturing them in their underwear, aren't you?" Velvet asked her.

"So what if I am? I've seen you in yours…not bad either." Coco flirted with a playful wink, in which Velvet just responded with a nervous laugh, blushing slightly as she hid in her coffee. Coco leant back and continued to watch the spectacle that was Yatsuhashi verses Fox.

Fox blasted across the Courtyard and he kicked at Yatsuhashi repeatedly, nailing him a couple times in the chest. He pushed both feet against his chest plate, jumping higher over his adversary, then he dropped down and slashed Sharp Retribution down across the massive curved bronze blade of Kyodiana Buredo. Sparks flew from the impact of two sharp blades colliding, and then he jumped into another spiral attack, which shredded against Yatsuhashi's thick aura. The huge Huntsman suddenly swung his sword round and smashed it straight into Fox, blasting him back across the courtyard. He pushed his feet against one of the pillars and threw himself right back.

He tackled Yatsuhashi to the ground and held his blade to his throat. Coco sighed and she clapped her hands together. "All right, you two! That's enough!" She called out, Fox stared down at Yatsuhashi, then he smiled, deactivating Sharp Retribution and stepping off him. He offered his hand, and Yatsuhashi accepted, allowing Fox to pull him back to his feet as Coco and Velvet walked towards them.

It was empty due to what happened at the Vytal Festival, not only were the schools closed but after the attack? People were still terrified, and all of them still felt that fear. The fear that the Grimm were going to attack them at any moment. The fear that no one was safe from some mysterious enemy. The fear that Atlas was up to something. Velvet looked over her shoulder, for a split second she thought that she saw a Grimm watching her. Those burning red eyes, that would just stare right into your soul.

She hated them…she hated them so much, for what they have taken from the world.

"Not bad form, guys." Coco complimented with a smile.

"Thanks…always like a good fight." Yatsuhashi said to Fox, gently punching his shoulder, which made Fox smirk.

"Yeah, good to get that stuff out, y'know?" Fox asked his friend, and Yatsuhashi knew precisely what he meant, especially after Beacon. The four of them left the Courtyard and walked out towards the empty square in the school, where there were emerald green bushes lined up by the paths. And a beautiful fountain in the middle of the garden, behind the Holographic Bounty Listings that were constantly being projected.

Team CFVY sat down at a bench table with their coffees. There was a lingering silence amongst them, and Velvet stared down at her own reflection of the warm drink. The hot steam trailed into her nose and it made her want to taste that luxurious drink…but every single day she would have these thoughts.

She closed her eyes, and saw their eyes, she would hear their roars. She opened them, and for a brief moment, everything was destroyed. The howling shrieks of Nevermore just never seemed to go away, terrifying and endless as they feasted upon the bodies of those who had fallen.

She blinked and returned back to reality with a jolt, her breath and voice were trembling, Fox glanced at her. He could sense that she was feeling a great amount of trepidation. "You alright?" He asked her.

"Huh? Uh…y-yeah…" She lied, her friends all could tell that she was lying, it was never her strong suit. "Fine. My nightmares have been…bad lately. I just can't stop thinking about what happened." She stammered, glancing at the outline of Beacon in the distance, the Grimm Wyvern just barely visible atop the tower.

"Believe me, I know what you mean." Yatsuhashi agreed.

Coco nodded, hiding her eyes behind her sunglasses, staring down at her cup as well. "It sucks, doesn't it?" Coco asks her, they all had been suffering from the Fall of Beacon. It was hardly something that you would get used to overnight. "Last night…I started to see things too. Remember those Paladins we fought? There was a moment that I actually thought we weren't gonna beat them. They just kept coming, and when that one hit you Velv? I…well...I dunno." She stammered.

It was very rare for them to see their leader show any form of weakness. Honesty was no weakness to any of them, but the fact she was being this honest? She always hid her worry behind a smile or with jokes, so whenever she was being real with them? They knew it.

The deaths of Pyrrha, poor Pyrrha, and Penny, who turned out to be a robot?

Those losses still stung. Bad.

"What happens now? I mean…this has never happened before. People are still scared, and for all we know…it could happen again, anywhere." Velvet asked with concern.

"Well… the Bounty Boards are still up. We could check them." Fox suggested, standing up. Yatsuhashi massaged his hands against the table as he waited to see what Fox found. He stood before the large wall of Bounties, watching them slowly scroll down the screen, and there were so many of them in Vale. Homes that were attacked by the Grimm out in the Countryside after the families felt terrified from what they watched.

Coco stood up and walked over to her partner, looking at the bounties as they rolled on down the screen. "There's so many, but most of them in Vale are taken." He murmured.

"What about International?" Coco asked, so that was what he chose. They had already helped countless people across Vale, they needed to know if the other Kingdoms were still out there.

"The backup CCT's are holding up, but they got bigger priorities than bounties. The ones on here? They're at least a week old now." Fox stated, he clicked one of them, noticing that it was accepted… but the Huntsman never reported the Contract as completed. This was…at least over a week ago now. And the Contract did not seem like anything out of the ordinary.

_Posted 11 days ago_

_Hunters critically needed_

_My name is Bartleby Brunswick, and I am in desperate need of assistance. I come from a collection of Farms in Northern Anima, south of Argus. My Estate has been bleeding money recently, I have spent so much on Huntsman protection and every single time it has gone wrong. I tried to solve the situation my own way, because it has always done the deed in the past, but I fear I may have made the situation even worse._

_Emotions are plummeting faster than an anchor cast into the ocean. I need Hunters, and I am willing to pay. My Lien Budget may have fallen drastically in the past few weeks, but I still have valuables I am willing to give away. Valuables that if sold would pay triple a usual Contract Price. I need the Grimm problem taken care of, linger enough so then we can finish building our walls around the Farms._

_I cannot take this any longer. I am watching my people wither away...and it is my fault._

_Please… get here as fast as you can, anywhere… please… I'm so tired…_

_Bartleby Brunswick_

_Accepted by – Amos Dye_

Fox glanced at Coco, they felt nervous about this contract. "Amos…I remember him, he was at the Vytal Festival. I remember seeing his name on the list of missing Hunters last week." She stated.

"Do you think he's dead?" Fox asked her.

"Maybe…I mean after what happened? Something could've gone wrong." Coco said, but she was also feeling afraid for these people. Things were sounding bad, from the sound of it trouble had started before the Fall of Beacon even happened. "But…it feels wrong to leave this one going. Look at all the others. They're either ticked or from too long ago to bother with." Coco explained as she looked at the listings.

Velvet and Yatsuhashi came over to the two of them as they discussed the possibilities of this contract. "So? What's the deal?" Velvet asked curiously.

"This Contract… it's been waiting for a while now, we could see if they need help. Amos never completed it, if there are still people there, maybe we can help them." Coco suggested.

"It's in Mistral. That's a long way for a contract." Yatsuhashi reminded.

"I know, but the guy says he has jewels that pay a lot instead of lien, ones he is willing to part with. In times like these? We could use that money." Coco explained, turning to the rest of her team and asking "So… what do you say?"

* * *

A few hours later, they had booked transport aboard an Airship to go overseas to Anima, they sat at a table with their dinner set down, eating whilst they spoke. Fox eavesdropped on the conversations of other people inside of the airship, and it was always the same. People were scared, more scared than they have ever been. The Grimm attacks have been serious as of late, entire settlements were disappearing overnight because of how much negativity was in the air. You could taste it, like rotten flesh that stunk… it was thicker than water.

"Have you heard from Tammy? Her farm?"

"No… I don't know if she's alive, even with the CCT system nearly restored, we haven't heard anything."

Fox stopped eavesdropping, he knew that things were bad, and hearing it first hand by the discussions of others? It just made it feel much worse.

"So, this Contract. What do you think?" Fox asked them as he turned back to his team. Coco looked at him as she turned away from the window that overlooked the vast beauty that was Northern Anima.

"I don't know, I hope there's still people out there, waiting. But considering the past few days? I dunno." She sighed.

"Yeah. We've been running around like crazy, trying to help as many people as possible. With the likes of Yang out of commission, Blake missing and according to Goodwitch, Ruby took off with what's left of JNPR and no one knows where they are? It's just looking bad." Yatsuhashi stated as he pressed his huge hands against the table, staring down at his own reflection.

Velvet sighed, thinking back to Pyrrha's funeral service and how utterly miserable Jaune looked. She hoped they were doing all right, wherever they were.

"There is one thing that's bugging me about this contract." She admitted, they all looked at her. "If he has all these valuable jewels, jewels he's so willing to give away for this contract…then how come he never sold them for Lien in the first place? How do we know he isn't trying to scam us? Wouldn't be the first time that has happened to people like us."

"She's got a point." Fox agreed. He came from Vacuo, he lived with his Grandfather of whom he saw as a hero when he was a child…he still did. But there was one opinion of his that never changed, and that was that Vacuo was a desolate land of liars and thieves. And the liars and schemers that lived amongst the towering dunes of sand? They were the craftiest in Remnant. The amount of Hunters who walked away with nothing from their endeavors there, or some that were actually murdered by the Contractors to save them losing Lien from their pockets.

The idea of someone cheating them so their problem would be sorted and they would never lose a single Lien?

Someone smart enough would easily go for that option, or stupid enough, depending on who the Hunters were.

"Remember that story Professor Peach told once? When she accepted that Contract by that Farm, and as soon as she completed it, they attacked her with Pitchforks? People will find any edge against people, especially those who help you." Fox explained, crossing his arms as he sat in that chair. He sighed, looking at his scroll, fixed only onto the local signal provided aboard the Airship.

"I still believe there are people out there who will honor their end of the bargain. I'd like to think that treachery is the exception, rather than the rule," Yatsuhashi stated, Coco scoffed at his statement though.

"Even after Beacon? When Emerald double crossed us?" Coco asked him, Yatsuhashi sighed because he remembered the fight they both had against Mercury and Emerald during the Vytal Festival.

"Yeah… I know. I guess that's why I am still trying to hold onto whatever hope I have left in people." Yatsuhashi stated, Velvet sighed. She hated seeing her team acting like this.

She opened up the Contract and read it again, carefully going over the message written by Bartleby Brunswick.

"Why do you think this guy has been suffering Grimm attacks constantly? I mean, it seems a bit weird. I know that Farms are always at great risk of Grimm but even then, I've never known Grimm to constantly attack… are people there just miserable all the time?" Velvet pondered.

"Maybe they're near some kind of Grimm Hive? There's a lot of things about the Grimm we don't know." Coco shrugged her shoulders.

"Well, I mean by the sounds of it? It looks like he tried to end the problem before it got worse, but in turn only made it worse in the first place. I've read so many stories of people doing this in Vacuo. Instead of actually seeking a professional to take care of the situation, they think it can be done by their own hand. It's never worked, not once." Fox explained with a sigh. Velvet looked at the message over and over again.

It didn't look good… it would be surprising if the place was still in one piece.

"D-do you think that this is gonna be the way things are now? You know… settlements falling every single day? Hundreds dying? Our friends?" Velvet asked nervously.

"We knew what we were getting into when we chose this life… I guess it's just part of the job now." Coco huffed, throwing her empty coffee cup into the trash can in the corner of the room, nailing it.

"Still, I never imagined this would happen." Velvet said, Fox however stared at his hands, he never said it outright, but the thought was lingering in his mind.

'_I did. Peace never lasts.'_

"Attention all Passengers: We are arriving at Hightower Post." The Automated Voice told them, Team CFVY glanced at each other and they sighed. They stood up and got ready to leave, standing up and walking towards the exit.

The large airship descended towards the ground, the landing gear folded out from the armored hull, setting down upon the ground, blowing the soft layer of snow across the pad. The vessel landed upon the pad, and the airlock opened with a long staircase extending, allowing the passengers to leave.

Team CFVY walked down the metal steps, feeling the icy could Northern Wind against their skin. Fox quickly pulled on his jacket to keep warm, the cold air really didn't agree with him in comparison to the hot sun that he was used to. Coco still kept her sunglasses over her eyes as she looked around. The sun was still up but a thick layer of gray clouds hung overhead.

They approached the Post, it was a small location with a Tower Hotel that was built for the people that passed through. The path lead to a road that could take people to the many towns between Argus and Mistral. Places like Kuroyuri, Oniyuri, Shion Village, Kuchinashi and many others… and of course, Brunswick Farms.

"All right…my Scroll says that the farm is seven miles north of here. We can walk it from here." Velvet said.

Fox groaned, slumping forward. "Walk? In this weather" He winged.

"Oh shush, a little walking's good for you!" Velvet cheered, walking ahead of the team. Coco looked at them all and she sighed, massaging the back of her neck, following the small Faunus Huntress.

* * *

It took them about an hour of walking, following the paths through the snowy terrain. The distant howl of the Argus Limited and other Trains could be heard even through the forest. Making the landscape vibrate from the massive locomotives that came roaring through the land. They didn't say much to each other on the long walk, that was going around a lot lately. Excitement and enthusiasm had been muted significantly since the Fall of Beacon.

…and that did not change when they arrived.

"Well…here we are. Welcome to Brunswick Farms." Velvet announced to her teammates.

Brunswick Farms consisted of large two-story farmhouses, several greenhouses flanked a cobblestone drive that led to the house and a red metal gate. An arch with the farm name in the top. There were also at least two barns and several other smaller homes for farm workers. The well was fed by a network of water tunnels running under the farm. The farm was accessible by a trail leading up from near the railway line travelled by the Argus Limited, as well as a road that leads to Argus.

The chills they felt, they could not tell if it was due to the cold winter wind that blew against their skin, or the unnerving feeling that was created by it. And there was an odd, foul smell hanging in the air...

"Where is everyone?" Velvet wondered.

"Yeah…this place is untouched. Look at the place, not a scratch." Fox said, running his finger across the wooden wall of one of the buildings, dust coating his finger. The silence was only interrupted by the howling winds. Yet even though the place was completely abandoned by the Farmers and Bartleby, they all felt the eerie sensation like they were being watched.

Yatsuhashi looked over his shoulder, for a moment he thought he saw someone peering around the building, but nothing was there.

There was absolutely nothing whatsoever. Not even so much as a bird.

And that might have been the strangest part so far.

"Hello?" Velvet called out. "Is anyone here? We came for the bounty that was placed!" She shouted again, her voice echoing everywhere. Coco held her shoulder, looking straight at her.

"Maybe shouting isn't the best idea? If there are any Grimm around, we shouldn't let them know we're here." Coco advised, Velvet shuddered at the thought, but swallowed her fears and nodded.

"So, what do we do?" Yatsuhashi asked Coco. She looked around, holding her forearm and she bit her lip as she trembled from both the cold and her concerns. She did not want to risk her team's safety, and yet they needed to find out what was going on here.

"It's getting cold out here and it'll be dark soon, I think we should get inside. That house, the big one? Maybe we can find something in there." Coco suggested, they agreed and they walked towards the large house. Velvet walked next to her massive friend, and she stopped by the crops. They looked like they had been dead for quite a long time.

"Take a look at this," She softly said.

"What is it?" Yatsuhashi asked her.

"These crops, they must be at least a month old. They haven't been tended for ages…" She stated.

"But the Bounty was posted a week and a half ago." Yatsuhashi replied.

"Yeah…that's what's confusing me. It's like they just abandoned the crops." Velvet said, looking at Yatsuhashi with confusion.

"Or they were killed?" Fox suggested.

"By what? I've never heard of any kind of Grimm attacking a settlement and leave no damage whatsoever." Velvet said, she looked at Yatsuhashi and she gently poked his shoulder.

"You still have that Bestiary of Known Grimm file Port and Oobleck gave you, right?" Velvet asked, he nodded.

"Yes, I can read it through later, see if we can figure out what happened here." Yatsuhashi assured with a kind smile. He walked up the wooden steps to the porch where Coco was pulling on the locked door. She sighed, and that same look of bewilderment returned. "Is it locked?"

"Yeah… but from the inside. If they run if they locked it from the inside?" Coco wondered.

"How can you tell it's from the inside?" Fox asked.

"I tried to pick the lock, but the key's still in the lock on the other side." Coco answered, Velvet walked up the stairs and she looked around, crossing her arms, feeling the icy cold chill against her arms.

"Well, I know a way to get in." Yatsuhashi stated.

"Oh? What's that?" Velvet asked.

The door suddenly slammed open, the lock broken by a single powerful kick from Yatsuhashi. The door bounced off the walls, and Coco stopped the rebound with her hand. Velvet's eyes were wide and her mouth was agape, face frozen with a surprised expression. "Well… that works." Velvet chuckled, making Yatsuhashi smile.

They entered, examining the farmhouse, it had a large front hall with a staircase leading to the second floor on the left and a doorway next to the beginning of the stairs led to a library with a fireplace. Straight ahead was a bar and a large storage room for food and alcohol. It was a beautiful house, strangely spotless considering how long it looked like it had been abandoned for. Not a speck of dust anywhere. Fox closed the doors behind them, and Yatsuhashi grabbed a table with a drawer against it, just in case something tried to come in after them.

"BOOKS!" Velvet squeaked upon seeing the library's extensive collection, making Fox and Coco wince.

"Oh boy…" Coco groaned, and Velvet, eyes sparkling, went to leap for the books, only for Yatsuhashi to catch the lithe Huntress.

"Aw…" She cooed sadly.

"You can read some later." Yatsuhashi promised as Coco aimed down the iron sight of her minigun, ready to unload bullets into whatever was inside, but just like outside, there was not a single Grimm inside. But none of them could shake off that strange feeling in the air. That feeling like there were eyes in the wall.

Fox flipped the lightswitch, but the chandelier hanging overhead didn't turn on. "Looks like the power's out."

Coco opened up a closet, finding freshly washed clothes inside. "Weird...you can't get clothes this clean without a machine…" She stated.

Velvet turned on the TV in the library, but all she got was a black screen. She looked over to the bookshelves, spotting one lined with small pictures of people, presumably the people who lived here and their family and friends. Like everything else, the pictures were dust free.

Meanwhile, Yatsuhashi walked into the rather nice kitchen, with no power it was hard to see, but he could make out that the room was empty, and everything was where it should be. He walked over to the refrigerator and opened it, only to quickly shut it to conceal the rancid smell of spoiled food.

He jogged back into the hall and said "Kitchen's clear, but I'd advise against opening the fridge, food's all bad."

As he said this, he was completely unaware of the small silhouette peering down the staircase at him. Watching them.

Velvet all of a sudden felt desperate, she wanted to find the people of this place… they sounded so desperate. "Hello? Is anyone in here?" She called out.

"Run." A young girl's voice whispered into Velvet's ear. The Rabbit Faunus could feel cold breath against her neck.

She turned and gasped, but her teammates stared at her with confusion.

"What is it?" Coco asked her.

"Didn't you hear her?" Velvet asked them, scared.

"No…are you okay?" Coco asked her, Velvet was trembling with fear and confusion. Her team didn't agree with her when it came down to her belief of Ghosts, but this was something she felt certain of.

"N-No…you must have heard her. She was right next to me." Velvet stammered, and Fox scoffed.

"Ghost Stories, Velv? I love a good horror story, but come on, this place is creepy enough as it is." Fox sighed, looking around as he walked into one of the rooms with Yatsuhashi. Velvet and Coco walked up the stairs, searching for any survivors they could possibly locate whatsoever, but the silence was very unnerving. They should have found someone by now.

Yatsuhashi walked away from Fox, turning to see a photograph on the wall, of all the people. He could see the whole family and the workers, and all of them were smiling. There was fully grown crops in the background, and in the middle was Bartleby Brunswick himself, alongside someone who looked like his wife and a little girl by his side, holding his hand with a bright smile on her pretty face.

His heart ached as he stared at the painting, because that meant that these people were all either dead or missing.

"Found gold coins laying on the table, but no sign of a struggle. What're you thinking, big man?" Fox asked him as he walked over, Yatsuhashi looked down at him, then he blew out a breath.

"I'm not sure…there's no sign of any kind of attack, which is really strange, and the place is so clean. Couldn't have been Bandits or the Grimm. Neither of them could take or kill all these people and leave it so clean with nothing even knocked over." Yatsuhashi explained, his shorter teammate nodded his head. "Even these Pictures and Paintings…some of these would be worth a lot. Think bandits would leave these behind?"

"I mean, they're not their memories though. Stuff like this wouldn't sell that well." Fox shrugged.

"Not talking about that, memories can be taken away." Yatsuhashi mentioned with a sigh, staring at his own hand for a moment. "But the paintings? The furniture? The gold? That's real, I can tell just by looking at it."

"Weird, isn't it? The dude said his estate was bleeding dry. Yet he keeps all this and doesn't sell it?" Fox questioned.

"Well…I guess they mean too much for him. Although he probably should have done it, maybe they could all still be here." Yatsuhashi shrugged, and Fox nodded.

"Too right."

Upstairs, Velvet and Coco investigated the bedrooms, only to find that they were all completely empty. Devoid of pretty much anything. Dust hadn't settled anywhere, which was making the whole situation feel even stranger. Velvet ran her finger across the windowsill, finding that there was still not a speck of dust. "What kind of farmer prioritizes cleaning the house over the crops?" She asked.

"Yeah, seems weird, doesn't it?" Coco agreed, she pulled out a draw and she found something. She raised a brow and she set it down on the bed.

"What is it?" Velvet asked.

"A letter… seems like he was in some serious shit with the Banks. Massive loans, Bartleby was begging them to extend the terms." Coco explained.

_To: Banks of Remnant_

_Greetings, this is Bartleby reporting once more._

_I appreciate the time you have given me to repay the loan, however, I beg of you to give me more time. Things have been going poorly since we last spoke, and have been predicted to get much worse. Our yield from our crops has dropped drastically, this past Winter has been extremely bad for us, and we only managed to make enough through the summer to survive. The soil is not what it used to be anymore, and the past few months have lacked rainfall quite severely, meaning our animals have suffered as well._

_Couple that with our Huntsman being killed in action after he tried to fend off the Grimm and the low morale after the Fall of Beacon, we are in a serious situation. I am funnelling all resources I can into protecting my people, the ones that haven't left that is. I am also trying to find another way to pay the next Hunters I can hire for their services. But I beg you to give us more time, I believe that after this Winter we will be luckier. The soil was showing signs of fertility and our cows are starting to mate again._

_I keep my promises, I assure you. I just need more time to pay you back, and I will._

_In full._

_With regards,_

_From Brunswick Farms_

"Seems Bartleby was getting pretty desperate, huh?" Coco asked Velvet, the Rabbit Faunus nodded her head and sighed as she looked around, not noticing that as she walked past a mirror, a face reflected in the glass observed her.

She approached the window and she looked outside and gasped upon seeing dead cows in the fields. They had all hunkered under the shade of a tree, and it looked like they died from starvation. "T-the cows are all dead." Velvet told Coco, unnerved.

"I had a feeling… I smelt it on the way here." Coco stated as she looked at the sight.

That stench was in the air, like sulfur, the rotting corpses must have been there for longer than those crops were. From here she could tell that their bodies had bloated, they were just left out there to suffer. "It's cruel." Velvet stated.

"Poor things." Coco agreed, before she turned away with a sigh and she walked out into the hall and entered another room. She looked at the bed and saw there was an impression there, as if someone was just sat there. Coco furrowed her brow and looked down the hallway towards the stairs in confusion, the others had not been up there. She never wanted to show her fear to her team, it wasn't her place to, but she was majorly creeped out right now, there was something off about this place.

And all the while she couldn't shake the feeling that she was being watched, as if eyes were looking through holes in the walls. She sat down on the bed and she stared at her hands, she kept on opening and closing them out of stress, releasing a breath to calm herself down. Until she heard the cold raspy breath over her ear, making her jolt. She stood up suddenly, spinning round with a clenched fist, only to find that she was alone, completely alone.

She shuddered, rubbing her eyes as she walked out of the room, not noticing the closet door had been a tad open, and it was now opening wider.

"Nothing?" Fox asked as he and Yatsuhashi came up to meet them.

"Absolutely nothing." Velvet confirmed with a shrug, softly scratching the back of her head with confusion. "I don't get it, we must be missing something."

"Yeah…okay, Fox! With me, Yatsu go with Velvet, Let's check out the other buildings. Maybe we can find them there, if they're still alive, or maybe we can find something to tell us where they went or what happened." Coco said as she walked down the stairs, Velvet kept on behind her, stopping as she stared at one of the photographs that was slanted. Out of all of them, this was the only one that was slanted. She stared at it, yet she did not find anything weird in it.

Until she saw the reflection.

Someone was behind her.

She turned and gasped, her eyes wide, and nothing was there.

But that chill was in the air, it was cold to begin with, but this? This was unlike anything she had felt before, it was colder than ice.

She shuddered, rubbing her arms as she walked over to Yatsuhashi who smiled at her. He pushed the door open to her, and the wind howled past them, carrying the snow past their heads. It was as if it was always winter in the Anima Mountains.

* * *

Coco and Fox went to investigate the Stables where the horses should be, whilst Velvet and Yatsuhashi went to investigate the other Farmhouses.

Fox pushed the doors to the stables open, and the first thing they were greeted to was that horrible stench. They had to cover their noses, as the carrion flies buzzed over the corpses. The Horses were dead, decayed, still chained to the walls. They were just left there, to starve to death in the cold. Coco crouched down by one of the beautiful animals, that was left to die in such a horrible way. "I'm so sorry…"

"Well, they didn't run." Fox coldly stated, she glanced at him and she scoffed.

"Doesn't anything shock you?" Coco asked.

"Not really, that happens to you when you have lead my kind of life," He stated with a sigh. "I'm not my Grandfather… I wish I was… but I'm not, and living in Vacuo? It makes you see things differently." He shrugged.

"I never got that sense from Sun." Coco commented as she looked around, covering her mouth and nose with her hand to avoid the stench as best as she could.

"Yeah, well. He lives in a better town, from what you told me." Fox scoffed, it was clear that talking about his home was quite a touchy subject, so she didn't pry. She just kept investigating the place, trying not to throw up from the horrific stench of the dead animals.

"How could they just leave them?" Coco asked, she wanted to touch one of them but the amount of carrion flies that fed on the flesh made her recoil.

"I don't think they made it out, Coco." Fox sighed.

"Well if they're dead, then where are they? How come there's no sign of conflict?" Coco questioned, that was finally a question that he could not answer, he just fell silent and he kept investigating. He turned and found some of the horseshoes, that had rust slowly forming on them. Even these had not been properly looked after in quite a long time.

Fox walked over to the wall and found something, some kind of list of rules for the stable workers.

_Stable Rules:_

_Make sure all horses are chained up for the night, if not then let them roam around the fields for their exercise._

_Make sure their hay supplies are fully stocked, we cannot lose even one horse._

_Do not use the smaller horses for pulling the harvesters or carriages, they are not strong enough._

_Please do not fornicate with the horses._

_Thank you,_

_Bartleby Brunswick._

"Wow, the fact he had to put clarify he didn't want any bestiality tells a story, doesn't it?" Fox chuckled, and that just made Coco shudder.

Inside of the Guest House was a different story.

Yatsuhashi broke the door down and he drew his massive sword, aiming it ahead, walking inside with Velvet behind him. She held up her camera – named Anesidora – and she took a few snaps of the place. She had been doing that a couple times now, not all of her pictures were used for her weapons, it was also a camera on its own. She snapped a few and set the camera back onto her belt.

They looked around, seeing the stuffed head of a Buck attached to the wall above the fireplace, and all the Sofas were perfectly clean. Velvet held her hands on her hips, furrowing her brow.

"I'm sorry, but I've never seen a place this clean before. Even Weiss wasn't this much of a neat freak." Velvet remarked, making Yatsuhashi chuckle as he looked around. She walked past him and she started to investigate the garage, yet she could not find anything in there. Just an old Lawnmower, which was probably the dirtiest thing in the estate.

"Look at the greenhouses." Yatsuhashi said, walking in behind her. They both stared at them in the distance, and the plants were all dead in there as well. Those crops must have been worth a bomb.

"His letter said the soil here was failing, maybe that was what he was trying to do? Make crops in greenhouses." Velvet suggested as she noticed snowflakes beginning to drop from the sky.

"Well it didn't work." Yatsuhashi sighed, walking past her. Velvet looked at him with concern.

"Hey? You okay?" She asked.

"Huh? Oh, yeah… I'm sorry, Velv. I'm just tired, the trip and…everything that happened before." Yatsuhashi sighed, pushing his hands back across his head, rolling his neck afterwards.

"Yeah, I get that. You managed to get any sleep recently?" She asked him.

"I don't sleep well," He confessed, "I still hear that thing's screams, see the fires…I keep thinking that maybe if we went with Ruby and Weiss? Maybe…"

"Hey, Yatsu…come on. Things are bad enough as it is. We can't start blaming ourselves for things we couldn't have hoped to stop."

"I know, but…"

"I miss her too, she was really nice to me...and I just wanted her and Jaune to be happy. But now they never got that chance, because that… monster Cinder…took that from them."

Yatsuhashi sighed as he sat down, staring at his sword, running his hand across the blade as he sat there. He looked at her and he smiled, nodding her head. "We will stop them… we'll make sure they pay for what they did." Yatsuhashi promised her. She nodded her head and smiled.

"Come on, let's check the rest of the house." Velvet suggested, shuddering from the chill in the air. They walked back into the Guest House, it was smaller than the large Farmhouse at the end of the estate. They looked around, finding that there was also a dead dog here. Velvet gasped when she saw it, yet it looked like it fell asleep and never woke up. The flies buzzed around it, slowly decomposing it, as nature intended.

"All of the animals are dead. It's seriously like they left the place…" Yatsuhashi stated as he glanced out, the snowfall becoming faster, the piles of snow on the ground were getting alarmingly bigger.

"Yeah, but why?" Velvet asked, that was when Yatsuhashi noticed it. He walked past her and he approached the dining table. There was a Journal left behind. He opened it and he flicked through the pages. Yet again, it belonged to Bartleby, but there was something rather strange about it, there were fingerprints on it, cold prints, about the size of a child's hand. It was put here recently. He went through the many pages, and he read the first page.

_This was the beginning of a new age for our family._

_I suggested this idea, that all of us, the adults and the children and all their pets, would live together on a farm. And here we are, I quit my job and sold my shares to build this place, and we already have some new cows here to get the milk from. Crops have been planted and I have never seen so many smiles on their faces._

_My wife… I've never seen her look so happy._

_We tried for a baby last night, I hope we have a little girl. I could never stand having a son, I would be too afraid of him ending up like me. Not saying that I hate myself, oh no…I love me… but there's only one me on Remnant…and that's ME._

_I guess the only thing that worries me about the location is the fact that there was once an old ruin here, one that was destroyed by the Grimm. However I have put out a new job posting for a Huntsman looking for a place to live and protect._

_And someone has already agreed._

_I think we're going to be really happy here._

_I feel so excited I don't know if I can sleep tonight!_

_To a new age._

_Bartleby_

Yatsuhashi looked at Velvet as she rubbed her neck, sitting down on one of the chairs as she looked around. "They were so excited and happy. What could have happened?" Yatsuhashi questioned.

"I know…what makes someone just up and leave everything? They can't be dead, we would have found bodies by now." Velvet shrugged her shoulders.

Yatsuhashi continued to read the book, until they heard the nearby sound of something screaming. They both shot up, and Yatsuhashi closed his book, they ran outside and looked around. There was nothing there, yet they still heard the scream, carried by the wind. It was horrifying, like something was being strangled, raspy throated and screeching constantly. They had never heard a human voice make a sound like that. Velvet formed a copy of Gambol Shroud from her box, ready to fight whatever was making that sound.

It grew louder…

And louder...

And louder...

And then nothing.

It suddenly went dead silent, not a whisper, not even a howl of the wind. That frightened them more than anything. They stood alone as the snow kept falling around them, trying to spot anything that moved in the bleak little village.

Coco and Fox came out from the rotten Stables, looking around when they noticed the two of them stood there, looking afraid. "Hey? What's up?" Coco asked them.

"Tell me you guys heard that." Velvet begged.

"Heard what?" The Fashionista questioned while Fox raised an eyebrow.

"The screaming. Or something that sounded like a scream." Yatsuhashi said, and Velvet nodded her head.

"Yeah, exactly." Velvet agreed, but neither Coco nor Fox had heard that blood curdling screech.

They stood around the well in the center of the Farm, confused and unsettled, and turned to the main Farmhouse. Fox looked to the sky, noticing that the sun was falling behind the mountains, nightfall was upon them and the snow showed no signs of stopping.

"We should stay in the house for the night. Velv and I will check the cellar for any food stores. You two get the fire going." Fox ordered, Coco narrowed her eyes, it was her job to give the orders, not his. But she didn't have the energy or the will to even bother starting an argument, so she just nodded.

They all went inside, and Fox gestured to the cellars were there was most likely some food hidden away for them. Yatsuhashi and Coco went to the library, and as Yatsuhashi approached one of the couches, he noticed there were six very fluffy blankets shoved behind them. He smiled, turning to Coco as she tried to light the fire. "Catch." He said, the whole blanket just fell over her head, completely consuming her.

She sighed and replied with an unusually dull voice, "Thanks."

Fox and Velvet went down into the cellar, Velvet using Anesidora to light the way. They both sniffed the air and felt repulsed. "Is that gas?" Fox asked, so Velvet sniffed again and nodded.

"Yeah, somewhere something is really flammable, so it would be a very bad idea to light a candle." She commented, shuddering. They walked past an open crate loaded with bottles of whisky, Fox picked one of them up and examined it."

"Damn, this is worth a lot. Hell, if Bartleby just sold all of this he could have been able to sort out his money issues." Fox voiced, and Velvet nodded.

"Seems like money maintenance wasn't one of his skills." Velvet commented, and Fox nodded.

"Damn right." Fox agreed, they turned the corner and they looked around. Fox sighed, pinching his brow as he lowered his head. Velvet looked back at him, she looked very tired as she rubbed her large brown eyes.

"What is it?" She asked, and he sighed.

"It's just...I hate seeing this stuff. You know, all the settlements that keep falling. I always want things to be better, but you know how it is." Fox stated.

"I know, and I hate it too. I don't want things to be like this from here on out." Velvet agreed, they both turned and Velvet gasped and a bright smile grew across her face.

"Yes!" She squeaked.

"What?" Fox asked with shock from the sudden yelp from his friend. She span around, holding a can of food with a smile.

"Food!"

"Canned food…Oum help us all." Fox groaned.

"Oh grow up, it's better than starving." Velvet said as she started to stack them, which raised another question in Fox's mind as he looked back and forth at the shelves, stacked with food.

"Hang on a second… if they left why didn't they take any food? Look at the place! There's stuff everywhere, you could feed a village with these provisions." Fox commented, and Velvet nodded with confusion.

"Yeah…" She slowly said, she glanced at one of the cans and she sniffed it, and it smelled fine so it wasn't moldy. And unopened canned food can last for years. "Something's really off here. Nothing makes any sense." Velvet said as she walked away from the crates, which were on top of a chained shut trap door that neither had noticed, nor had they seen the scratches on the ground beneath it, like nails had dug into the concrete.

* * *

A couple hours later, night had engulfed the land, the Shattered Moon was in a cloudless sky, shining bright as it watched them like the damaged eye of a mad god. Coco stared at the Moon through the window, on patrol by the windows to make sure that nothing was out there. The snow had stopped, but it was very cold and it wouldn't be easy to travel without a vehicle, meaning they were stuck here for the night. Coco didn't like that one bit; this place stunk of a trap, it didn't feel right. So to avoid this threat they had set up some alarms around the house, cabels with the now-empty cans they ate out of attached that would make noise should something walk into it, primitive but enough to get the job done.

The others all sat before the fireplace, Velvet was snuggled up in the warm blanket that she was given, her long bunny ears were softly drooped over her head as she stared at the dancing flames. Yatsuhashi was still reading through the book that Bartleby had written, he had found seven other books, and was already on the fourth one.

Fox looked at his larger friend with curiosity. "What's the journal say, Yatsu? Anything juicy?"

"Nothing much, the guy is mainly just talking about how great everything was. They started their own brand and were working on building a vineyard as well as farmland and diaries. I'll say this about old Bartleby, he was one hell of a scheme." Yatsuhashi explained.

"How so?" Velvet asked.

"Well they had their Huntsman who handled the Grimm problems, probably the biggest issue that I've seen. But the entry I'm reading right now is talking about some money issues. Seems to actually surround this vineyard venture he was working on. So instead of actually purchasing the plants to make wine and the necessary equipment? He paid his Huntsman to actually steal the supplies from another vineyard, all so then it would be cheaper and easier for them all. He was quite the ambitious man…so I'm curious to find out how it all went awry." Yatsuhashi explained as he flicked through the pages.

Coco returned, picking up her brown furs and wrapping herself up in it. "We're all clear, there's nothing out there." She said, walking past the staircase where it was watching them.

"Finally, some certainty about this place. Y'know I admit, this has probably been the most Grimm-Free day I've had since Beacon fell." Fox chuckled, leaning back into the chair.

"I know…yet I hate it, keep thinking I'm gonna see one of them." Velvet shuddered, imagining the hot breath of a Beowulf down her neck. Yatsuhashi glanced at them and he smiled, closing the book with a bookmark he made with some paper, and he whipped out his scroll, opening up the Grimm Bestiary.

"Oh no…" Coco groaned.

"Come on, we need to learn about the terrible beasts out there in the world. Best to be ready for them, right?" Yatsuhashi asked them. "So then, would you like to hear about the…Deathworm?"

"Not really no." Velvet admitted, but Yatsuhashi went along anyway.

"A massive beast that prowls the dunes of Vacuo, massive enough to wipe out entire caravans in a single attack." Yatsuhashi read, crossing one leg over the other.

"I remember seeing one of them…saw it fight against a Flatback Slider when I was a kid. My Grandpa managed to keep me calm, good thing too. Last thing we would want would be a damn Deathworm come after us." Fox chuckled.

"Which won?" Coco asked him.

"The Deathworm, the Flatback Slider put up one mean fight though. But the Worm was faster, way bigger than the Blind Worms too." He stated.

"There's all manner of beasts in here." Yatsuhashi said, but as he started to read more of them, Velvet turned, her eyes widened when she heard the sound of something coming down the stairs behind them.

Tap.

Tap.

Tap.

Tap.

She stood up and they all looked at her with confusion, then a small red ball came bouncing down the stairs and it rolled over to them once it reached the floor. Velvet approached the ball with confusion and she picked it up with a furrowed brow. "Uh… what?" She asked, until suddenly a little hand suddenly emerged from the darkness right next to her to take the ball. Velvet screamed in terror, throwing the ball and staggering back. Her whole team, drew their weapons and went to attack whatever was there, until Velvet stopped them after she calmed down. "N-no! Stop!" She begged them.

All four of them looked at the shadows…and then she emerged.

She was a little girl, no older than eight, she looked extremely shy with short ginger hair and white Pajamas on. "Please don't hurt me…" She begged them, they all immediately withdrew their weapons and Velvet crouched down to the girl.

"Hey, sweetheart…how long have you been here? We've been looking for people all day, where have you been?" Velvet sweetly asked the little girl, she reached out to her but she hid back in the darkness, whimpering with fear. Velvet flinched as the girl moved away, they could hear her tearful whimpering, then Yatsuhashi crouched down and he smiled. Normally a man of his size would scare people, but he held his hand out with a gentle hand. She stared at him and Velvet, before she stretched out her arm and touched his much larger palm.

Her hand was cold to the touch, she must have been freezing. She came out from the darkness, and she had short orange hair, and bright green eyes. Her white pajamas seemed to glow as she stood in the moonlight. "What's your name?" Velvet asked her.

She sniffled. "Alcyone," She answered, "Alcyone Brunswick."

Velvet looked at Fox and Coco as they drew nearer, recognizing the surname instantly. "Bartleby's daughter? Honey, can you tell us where they are?"

"They're lost…scared…" She whimpered, she shook as she stood there, so Yatsuhashi took her hand and she walked next to him, she was tiny, frail looking. Velvet picked up her ball and looked at it, just like everything else there was not a speck of dust on it whatsoever.

"Are they out there?" Coco asked her as she sat down.

"I'm not sure…I stayed here, the others left with my daddy. I can't find them…I'm so lonely." She sniffled.

"Well, we're here." Velvet said with a bright smile on her face as she held the bouncy ball. She walked over with Fox who leant against the wall with his arms crossed. He didn't sit down, and out of the four he was probably the one that scared her the most. Those pale eyes, all the scars and that focused presence he had.

He was a warrior, and sometimes that frightened children.

"Would you like us to go out and look for them?" Coco asked her.

"No…it's dark, and dangerous." She sniffled.

"Are you afraid of the dark?" Coco questioned gently.

"Yes…it's scary…and cold." Alcyone answered. "What are you doing here?"

"There was a bounty contract that came up, we come from Vale. You know where that is?" Coco asked her gently, and Alcyone nodded her head silently. "We wanted to see if we could help you… but as you know, we haven't found anyone here." Coco stated.

"I…I hope you can help us…" She sniffled.

"What do you mean? Do you know what happened here?" Fox asked her.

"Everyone was... tired. They fell asleep... and they disappeared. I had a nightmare…that I was being dragged off, down the stairs." Alcyone began, they listened to her terrifying nightmare. "I was awake but I couldn't move, I screamed but nothing came out. It felt like I was choking… There were monsters dragging me, dragging everyone... They ate us…we could feel it… it hurt so much…"

"What happened after?" Yatsuhashi asked her.

Alcyone wiped a tear away. "I woke up in my bed…and everyone was gone. Everyone but me." She sniffled.

Fox stared at her and then at Velvet, the Rabbit Faunus was uncomfortable, she didn't want this poor, terrified child to talk about the things that scared her for a second more than she already has done.

"Coco, any suggestions?" Velvet asked her leader.

"Well, normally I'd say we should bundle the kid up and get the hell out of here, but with how cold it is outside and with how deep the snow is, I don't think we're going anywhere until morning. Let's calm the kid down, and then get some shut eye. We'll take her into town tomorrow and get some cops to help us investigate." Coco decided. The Rabbit Faunus nodded and looked to the child.

"Hey, Alcyone? What is it you do for fun around here? I mean, since you've been lonely for a while, how about we play a game?" Velvet asked her. The others looked at her, and they smiled – they realized that this was probably the better option. Interrogating a scared little girl for answers would undoubtedly be a bit immoral, especially a child as rattled as this one.

"Um…well sometimes my mommy and daddy would play with me sometimes. Catch, Hide and seek…and stuff." She gently said to them.

"Hide and seek? Well…I could play that with you. We all could!" Velvet suggested, Fox glanced at her with a raised brow. She bumped his shoulder and he sighed, deciding to play along with her little idea. And for the first time, an adorable smile grew across little Alcyone's face. She bounced up and she nodded her head.

"O-Okay! You count! We all hide!" She giggled.

"Okay." Velvet agreed, nodding to her team as she covered her eyes with her ears, making Alcyone giggle. As she closed her eyes, she could feel the creeping, looming threat of something in the house. She shook the feeling away, of the breath over her shoulder, the whispers in the back of her mind. And she started to count to thirty.

Thirty seconds after she closed her eyes, she opened them, just missing the dark shadows that slid back round the corners that were watching her the whole time.

Velvet called out at the top of her lungs.

"Okay! Ready or not! Here I come!" She called out, she started to walk through the house, searching for them. She searched everywhere she remembered, the library, the cellar, and the bedrooms, but she couldn't find anyone, she felt like she was walking in circles around the entire house. She tapped her bottom lip with her finger, looking around with great confusion. "Hmm…if I were a kid…a big Huntsman…a cute Fashionista…and a scarred loner, where would I go?" Velvet wondered as she felt something brush against her hair.

She shook the weird feeling off, thinking it was just her hair brushing against the door panel. Not even noticing the long fingers retracting through the open doorway next to her.

She did another sweep through the house, wondering if she missed something.

And she did.

The bookshelf to her left was toppled over, like someone had fallen into it. She furrowed her brow with confusion, rubbing her eyes with this strange feeling. "Oh come on, Velvet… stay awake. It's not that late." She demanded to herself. She pushed forward, walking past the opening doors to outside, where they were starting to come through. The whispers were so faint she didn't even notice them, as they shambled in behind her.

She returned to the cellar and now she noticed what was different.

The cellar doors that had been chained shut were now wide open, and it was very, very dark down there. She swallowed her fears, and she walked ahead, just narrowly avoiding a long clawed hand that went to grab her ear.

She walked down the steps as the group slowly followed her, bumping against the walls so gently that she somehow didn't hear the quiet creatures, or she didn't have the sense to. As if she could not be bothered to, like she didn't have the energy to.

Her mind was now only on finding her friends.

'_Why are we even here?'_

Thoughts began to creep into her mind as she searched around the cellar, turning to see the blown open wall. Bricks were everywhere, she crouched down and saw the tracks. They all came down here, she knew what their prints looked like, it was not something that you would easily mistake. She followed them more, and the dark figures emerged behind her, reaching out more and more with those long arms.

She wanted to look back, deep down she did...but she couldn't.

Was it fear?

Was it a lack of trying?

Was her apathetic sense she felt here controlling her?

She could not know, she just kept looking for her friends and Alcyone. "Guys? Alcyone! Where are you?" She cried out desperately as she ran through the sewers in search for them… and then she stopped. Her eyes widened with horror from who the two people she found where.

Their bodies were ripped open, their old blood stained the bricks, and their weapons were on the ground. The oldest body was the first Huntsman that Bartleby had hired, and the second was Amos, the Huntsman who accepted this contract before they did. They died screaming in terror, yet there was no sign of a struggle, as if they could not move, but felt everything.

They needed to get out of here.

A scream echoed down the sewers as the lights began to flicker on and off, and she could hear the splashing footsteps of many things shambling up behind her. She ran ahead, and turned the corner, seeing Coco, Yatsuhashi and Fox all laying there. Their eyes were wide with fear, staring straight at Velvet, yet they could not speak. But the eyes? Their eyes were screaming desperately.

And then the lights went out.

All that surrounded them was the sound of many slow shambling steps behind Velvet. She reached out, her eyes were closed and she just used her ears, to figure out what was in front of her. She had no idea of what it was, but she sensed something was there, so she moved around it, feeling its cold presence. She reached out, and found the light, and switched it back on. The lights shone bright and she sighed with relief. "Guys? What happened?" She asked.

Coco's eyes widened more, and she could hear the slurred screaming from Coco's paralysed state.

"Velvet!" She winced, barely opening her mouth to speak.

"What?" Velvet asked. Suddenly an immensely sharp pain seared through her body as something grabbed her by her ear from round the corner, and yanked her with great force. She shrieked with horror, and that seemed to immediately snap her friends out of this paralysed state. "HELP ME!" She wailed, grabbing onto the brick wall, digging her nails into the bricks, scraping marks into them, like the ones on the floor before the Cellar Doors. Blood poured from the open wound in her ear as she screamed, Coco picked up her purse, Gianduja, and the handbag transformed into a minigun, and she let out a powerful scream, firing straight at the long thin arm that grabbed onto her friend's ear. The arm blew off, and a loud screech of pain erupted from what was round that corner.

Velvet crawled away as fast as she could, and turned to finally see what had been watching them the whole time.

The Apathy.

They were humanoid in shape, somewhat similar to the Imp atop the notorious Nuckelavee, but were very tall, with long arms that reached down as far as the ground with extremely long fingers. They had hideous faces, resembling skulls, some even lacked nostrils, and low-hanging jaws. There were at least four variants to the Apathy's appearance, two being extremely hunched back, whereas the others were taller.

The mystery had been solved, the Apathy were behind what happened here at Brunswick Farms. "What are these things?" Fox yelled, now that he was snapped out of that state. None of them had ever encountered something as dangerous as this before.

"I dunno, just kill 'em!" Coco yelled as she started to charge up Gianduja to shred them to smithereens. Until one of the Apathy that leaned round the corner, shambling into the sewer tunnel they were stood in, let out one terrifying, ear piercing shriek. It was so loud and sudden that it brought them to their knees, and even Yatsuhashi had to use Kyodiana Berudo to push himself back up.

"My sword…is never…this heavy…" He groaned as he tried to push the Apathetic Poison from his mind.

"We…need…to run!" Velvet yelled at them.

"GO!" Coco yelled as she collapsed Gianduja down and they all ran as fast as they could, sprinting further and further into the sewers. However, the Apathy were right behind them, constantly following them at a slow, but stalking pace. And there were holes everywhere, holes that more of them just seemed to come out from. One reached out and nearly grabbed Fox by his copper hair, but he swung round and cut the arm from its wrist. They turned the corner, looking over their shoulders every chance they had.

They saw an exit, illuminated by the moonlight, only for more Apathy to be cut them off, staring straight at them and creating another haunting screech. That one seemed to even blur their vision as they collapsed. "This way!" Yatsuhashi yelled, pointing to the opening to their left as the Apathy seemed to floor the Sewers behind them. Velvet formed Milo in its rifle form and fired, nailing an Apathy in its jaw, blowing it from its skull. But that did not even concern it, the monster just created a whispery growl as it stared at her.

Eyes burning red, and that same bright glow seemed to leak from they elongated jaws. As they ran…they slowed down with widened eyes at what they had just found. "By the gods…" Coco gasped, her eyes wide with disbelief. There was a pile of corpses, humans, Faunus, even pets like cats and dogs, all of them were at least two weeks old, ripped to shreds, and expressions of terror frozen onto their faces.

"Alcyone…her nightmare…where is she?!" Velvet gasped with fear, but they did not have time to find out. They turned as the Apathy gripped onto the outside of the wall, peering in with a snarl, and they kept pushing through to get to them. They kept running, leaving the mass grave behind, and Fox coughed at the pungent smell. But it was not the stench of rot that filled the air.

"Is that gas?" He asked, and they all smelled it.

"Yeah…I remember smelling it at the Cellar Door! We must be close to getting out of here!" Velvet said.

"We could also blow this place." Coco mentioned.

"What about Alcyone?" Yatsuhashi asked her.

"I don't know, we'll have to hope she managed to get out!" Coco stated, they kept sprinting as fast as they could, slipping and tripping on remains that floated away from the pile of corpses. She didn't want to leave the girl's life up to chance, but they didn't have much of a choice at the moment.

Velvet looked back, seeing more and more of them stumbling out from the openings, screeching at them. But luckily they were too far away for that screech to have affected them. Yatsuhashi roared as he charged at the closed door, smashing it down.

Only for even more Apathy to be waiting on the other side. They all stared at them, softly groaning as they glared into their eyes, tilting their heads. They were back at the cellar door, and they made a break for it. Only for that screech to cause them all to collapse. Coco crashed to the floor, and she looked around. She was terrified, more scared than she ever was at Beacon. Her hands were shaking, she sweat uncontrollably.

She tried to get back up, but heard both Fox and Yatsuhashi. "What's the point?" Yatsuhashi groaned.

"This…is the real…world…now." Fox muttered, falling into the water.

"Guys! Come…on!" She begged them all, turning to see Velvet also broken, her eyes were distant and she fell into the water as the Apathy moved ever closer.

"Velv…please…wake…up!" Coco begged.

"We…deserve this…" Velvet whimpered as she heard the Apathy shamble ever closer, moving their arms closer and closer.

"No… we can't… die like this!" Coco yelled, as she reached out for Gianduja, but when she turned, her eyes widened. She saw her – she saw Alcyone. She stood there, staring at her with a smile, but it was not cruel. It was a genuine, kind smile, one that let the fashionista know she believed in them. Coco did not want to believe it, but she did… as soon as she noticed the Apathy were walking right past her, not even seeing her.

"We…won't…DIE!" Coco yelled, as she hauled Gianduja up in minigun mode, and she aimed it down the sewers where the stench of gas was the strongest.

'_The gunshot will wake them up, and give us time to run…I hope. We;re gonna have to be fast, this whole place is about to collapse. This is what we signed up for. If we couldn't save these people, we can make fucking sure that we'll avenge them.' _Coco thought to herself as she looked back, only to see that Alcyone wasn't there anymore...but she saw something among the bodies that made her blood run cold.

The minigun's barrels spun round, and it fired, the loud bang woke them all from the paralysis caused by the Apathy's shriek. As the bullet shot past the Apathy, the monsters slowly turned as they watched it come past. Coco got everyone up, and she pointed at the open cell doors. "RUN!" She screamed, and the bullet impacted the wall, creating a spark. The Apathy let out one final shriek, and the gas ignited within the sewers.

The explosion rattled the entire estate from beneath, but what made it worse was that the reason the gas was down there was due to there being a gas leak down there from the house. Meaning the whole estate was about to collapse.

They ran as fast as they could as the flames consumed the Apathy, reducing them to ash, and then the massive explosion erupted through the center of the house. The walls shattered like glass, throwing massive chunks of burning debris up into the sky. The photographs of the Brunswick Family melted away from the flames as they ran. The wooden planks beneath them buckled and swashed like waves on a beach, collapsing down into the hollow beneath them, killing the Apathy that lurked underneath it all.

Team CFVY leapt out together through the cellar's double doors, flames erupted out behind them as the entire house sunk. The ground collapsed and they kept running, massive cracks spreads through the subterranean network that littered the place, causing the guest house to come crumbling down as well. The quakes caused from the explosion shattered the greenhouses, and the well exploded as flames shot up from underground. Team CFVY fled as fast as they could, as the entire ground caved in on itself.

"JUMP!" Coco screamed, they all leapt just as the ground fell beneath them, and they slammed down to the ground on the other side, safe from the estate as the gate fell in as well. The four of them looked back, panting with shock as the entire estate collapsed.

Yatsuhashi panted with disbelief at what had just happened, the orange flames shone bright in the dark Anima night.

The Apathy were wiped out, alongside the memories of Brunswick Farms.

* * *

Morning came…

And it couldn't have arrived soon enough. They all walked towards Hightower, to report what had happened to Brunswick farms and to get a ride home. They were exhausted, emotionally drained from the Apathy that lurked down there. None of them had any idea that they were affecting them, and they never even managed to fall asleep there. A good thing too, otherwise they would have ended up like Bartleby and his family.

Velvet held her head in her hands with grief. "Alcyone…" She whimpered. They knew there was no way she could have possibly gotten out of there. "We left her there."

"Velv…" Coco stated, looking at her as she held her hand gently. "Alcyone was gone long before we met her."

There was a chilly silence, broken by Fox asking with an uneasy voice, "What?"

"I saw her…the pile of bodies? The ones she said were dragged down there in her nightmare? That ate them? Ate her? It wasn't a nightmare…" Coco explained, their eyes were wide with horror. "Those were her final moments, they were the final moments of Bartleby and all of the residents there. Those things… I think I've heard of them. They're called the Apathy, and they eat away at your will to go on, eventually leading to paralysis."

"The dead crops… the cattle, the Horses and the pets…" Fox realized.

"Yeah, I think the people there slowly fell apart, unable to do anything. And then…they could not even get up. Then, when they were helpless, the Apathy drug them from their beds while they were still conscious. And they fed on them down in the sewers…where you heard that screech." Coco explained, and she pressed her hands to her head.

"Then…who did we meet? Who did we talk to?" Yatsuhashi managed to say, confused and uncertain.

"It was her…I think it was her…ghost." Coco revealed with tearful eyes. "She couldn't rest, I doubt any of them could. She wanted to see those monsters destroyed…and the only way we could kill them all was to destroy the entire estate. Bury them all, Brunswick and Apathy alike."

"The poor girl…" Velvet sniffled, she wiped the tears from her eyes.

"And nobody will ever remember them." Fox sighed, but then Yatsuhashi reached into his bag, and he revealed he managed to save Bartleby's Journals, every single one. The whole story of Brunswick Farms. "You saved them?"

"Yes and I… finished reading them while we were walking back." He told them.

"You did?" Velvet asked.

"Yeah… and I know what happened. How it all went wrong." Yatsuhashi explained as he opened up the final book.

_We managed to get the Vineyard's supplies taken overnight, but I fear that may have been a costly mistake. Because things have been going wrong ever since, our crop yield has been failing, and I'm not making enough money to pay back the bank for the loan I took to set up this damn vineyard in the first place._

_The thing is…I know it was that damn Vineyard Owner I stole from. He must have spotted the Huntsman, because I spotted him nearby the farm one morning, with some kind of stick. I asked my Huntsman to go down there and find out what was down there...he never came back. People have been getting sick, none of them are eating or working anymore. I don't know what he did, but he put something down there… I do not know what._

_Even Alcyone, the joy of my life, has fallen ill._

_This is the punishment for my sins, I know it. I haven't told my wife that I stole those supplies, only that I found them from one of the old destroyed farms and vineyards. This Wine Trade has destroyed me, I can try and make sure our crop yield will be enough to pay back the banks… but by the gods… I am so tired._

_We're all so damn tired._

_I am going to investigate the Sewers, find out what he put in there, but first I am going to seal it off. Whatever is happening to my people, I want to make sure that nobody else gets sick from what is down there. When that is done, I will be sure to hire a Huntsman to kill whatever monster he lured there._

_But I need some sleep first.'_

"So…the vineyard owner lured the Apathy into his sewers?" Coco said.

"It seems like it, to get revenge on Bartleby for stealing his equipment. But the last page proves that it was the Apathy that did this." Yatsuhashi assured.

"What do you mean?" Velvet asked, and then he turned the page.

It was completely blank.

It gave them chills, because his story was never completed, but Yatsuhashi reached into his bag and pulled out a pen, and he began to write the end of his story, so then the world would know how his story ended.

_In the end, he was too late._

_The creatures that the vineyard owner had lured underneath Brunswick Farms were the Apathy, and by the time he tried to seal the waterway entrance, the rest of its missing pack already followed them inside. Their poison infected the minds of everyone, and when the Farm fell into ruin, and the people were paralyzed from Apathy, the monsters killed them in the sewers._

_In the end?_

_Nobody was angry, or sad or scared. No one was anything._

_And then… no one was left._

He clicked the pen, and shoved it back in his pocket.

"What now? I mean, we can't let that bastard get away with what he did." Fox voiced, "Sure Bartlby stole from him, but that doesn't remotely justify what he did."

"Damn right it doesn't," Coco agreed, anger burning in her eyes, "Before we go, let's have a chat with the police."

And they did so, and the police were quickly able to deduce the identity of the vineyard owner. Yatsuhashi turned in all the books to the police as evidence and asked that after they were no longer of use, they were to be delivered to Haven Academy's library, so they would never be forgotten.

They gave their statements and left just as the police went to bring the vineyard owner in for questioning. They walked to the station, where they all sat down and waited for the airship to arrive, they all sighed as they thought on that happened last night.

"I'm so sorry…I never should have taken us here." Coco apologized. "I just wanted to get away from Beacon for a while, try and do some good…y'know?"

They all looked at her and Velvet smiled. "Hey, if we didn't come here, we would have never stopped the Apathy. We avenged Bartleby, Alcyone and all the Brunswicks." Velvet explained.

"But –"

"But nothing, you didn't drag us out here. As mushy as it sounds, we're family." Fox reminded with a gentle smile, which made Coco's heart flutter.

"Promise me though…we'll never split up again. Because I've never been more scared in my life." Coco begged them, and they smiled and they held their fists in the middle.

"Promise." They all agreed.

Velvet then went to use the restroom, which was stationed at the bottom of a staircase.

Once she emerged, her ears twitched at a familiar sound.

Tap.

Tap.

Tap.

Tap.

Stiffening up, Velvet turned around and what she saw made her back up against the wall in shock.

Alcyone's little red ball.

Gathering courage, Velvet walked towards the ball, crouched down, and picked it up, turning it to reveal a message written in black marker in childish handwriting.

'**Thank you'**

Nothing more, but it didn't need to say anything else, she held it close and smiled, knowing she would never leave this ball behind. She would keep it forever, to remember Alcyone by. At least that way, the lonely girl would always have a friend who would be there for her.

And even when Velvet would feel alone – she never would be.

"Velvet!" Coco called.

"I'm coming!" She called back, as she jogged over to the Bullhead and jumped aboard, holding the ball in her hands, ready to show the ball to her team. Not noticing a dove taking flight from a perch in the station.

Being a Huntress or a Huntsman, it was sometimes very hard to tell if it was the career they wanted.

But it was things like these…where they knew they did the right thing?

That's what it means to be a Huntress.

* * *

The reception to the story was exactly what Team CFVY had expected, many looked shocked and spooked, others looked amused but a little uneasy.

Doctor Oolbeck applauded politely, "You told me and my fellow teachers about your experience at Brunswick, but you never mentioned the girl."

"We decided to leave her out, we figured you wouldn't believe us if we told you about her ghost." Velvet explained to the bespeckled teacher.

"I assure you, Miss Scarlatina, I have an easier time believing this story than I do some of the stories Professor Port claims to be true." Oobleck told, getting a laugh out of some of the students.

"So, what happened to the vineyard owner?" Scarlet inquired, shaken up by the story.

"Yeah, he didn't get away with it, did he?" Ruby asked.

"It was a pretty easy conviction. Turns out his son and the workers knew what he had done, but were so afraid of losing their jobs or of what he would do to them if they reported him, so we had corroborating statements. Eventually he pleaded guilty, and got a lifetime sentence in prison." Coco explained.

"Serves him right." Ruby said, getting echoes of agreement.

"You're not joking, right? You really did see a ghost?" Weiss asked, surprised and unsettled by the tale, but not entirely convinced.

"We're not exaggerating anything. We saw her, we heard her, Velvet even managed to touch her. And Coco saw her body down there." Yatsuhashi firmly stated.

"And we hope she's at peace with her family, wherever they are." Velvet finished before Team CFVY moved to sit down, receiving applause from the audience.


	2. Zwei, Where Are You?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jinkies! It's time for another story! As you can tell, this one will be much lighter in tone compared to the first story and especially the next one. Sorry if that turns you off, but I'll still try to make it spooky.

The applause subsided, as the various students began talking amongst themselves, some getting up to get snacks and drinks. "Very good, Team CFVY," Said Professor Crane, "Now, we'll take a short break and then whoever would like to tell the next story can come up."

Ren looked to his leader and asked "Will you go?"

Jaune was silent, somewhat lost in thought as he considered CFVY's story. "Uh, probably. I may have to omit certain...details."

"Like what?" Nora asked with a mouthful of several lollipops.

"I'll tell you in private, I don't think Ozpin and the Guardians of Remnant would like me explaining certain details in this journal." The blond elaborated.

"I know your ancestor was involved with the Maidens and even...Salem, but what could be in there that would be a good fit to tell here?" Pyrrha asked.

Jaune sighed and said "I...guess you'll see. Maybe I'll just wait until we get back to our dorm to tell us. It would probably be for the best if only Team Beacon knows about it."

Meanwhile, Velvet was speaking to Penny and Team RWBY. "So, what did you think of our story?"

"It was very good," Blake said, "I've read about the Apathy, a rare but dangerous breed of Grimm. You were lucky to escape."

"Yeah. That jerkweed vineyard owner got what was coming to him," Yang voiced, "Sure that Bartleby guy stole from him, but that doesn't mean everyone else at the farms had to die for it."

"Your story was quite thrilling! This was the first story tonight that had me, as they say, spooked!" Penny complimented.

"Agreed. Though I must admit, I'm not exactly convinced about Alcyone." Weiss confessed.

"You don't believe us? Why?" Asked Velvet, trying not to sound annoyed.

"Yeah, we've been through crazier things than ghosts," Ruby pointed out before adding "And Velvet has the ball!"

"I know, and while I believe in spirits and the fantastical things out there in the world, I don't know if I believe in ghosts, or vampires or werewolves or other such legends." Weiss stated, "And besides, it's not like they couldn't have bought the ball from a store and created the ghost girl just to add some more creepiness into an already horrifying experience."

"You callin' us liars, Schnee?" Asked Coco from behind, making Weiss' head snap back to look at the fashionista. Even when dressed in a harem girl outfit, Coco Adel was not to be taken lightly when she glared like that.

"I didn't say that!" Weiss defended, "I'm just saying you may have...exaggerated certain details."

Coco sighed and said "It's true Fox came up with that bit about the sign in the stables to add some levity, but we didn't make anything up about Alcyone Brunswick. She was there, we all saw her, and then I saw her corpse."

Weiss did not want to argue with Coco, the fierce look on her face made it clear that Team CFVY weren't making up their ghostly encounter.

"Okay, when you put it like that, I believe you. But in my defense I have a good reason to be somewhat skeptical of ghosts, right?" Weiss asked her team.

"Oh yeah, we've been practicing this for two weeks." Yang said as she stood up, eager for Team RWBY's turn as storytellers.

"So you're finally going to fill the rest of us in what happened in Crystal Cove?" Sun inquired.

"You bet!" Ruby confirmed, "It was perfect for this party...wait a minute, where's Zwei?"

RWBY, Coco, Velvet, Sun and Penny looked around for any sign of the Corgi, only for a small, dark shape to leap down from the bookshelf Blake was sitting in front of and onto the lap of the Cat Faunus. She cried out in surprise, making everyone else yelp too, but everyone laughed when they saw what had jumped Blake; Zwei.

"Argh! He knows I hate that!" Blake hissed, her hair standing up slightly as she lowered her head while her shoulders rose up. Zwei simply looked up at her and tilted his head as everyone else laughed.

"Sorry, Blake, he just wanted to give you a little scare. That's the spirit, Zwei!" Ruby cooed to the dog as she held him up.

"Heh, imagine someone like you afraid of a tiny little pup." Yang said to her partner, smirking.

Blake sighed and said, "I wasn't afraid, just startled. There's a difference."

"Not much." Sun remarked.

"There is a huge and important difference! There's more to fear than jump scares and loud noises." Blake rebuked her boyfriend.

"I'd listen to her, Sunny-boy, she reads enough to know what she's talking about." The blonde brawler suggested to the Monkey Faunus.

"All right everyone! It's time for the next story!" Oobleck announced, making the students who were up rush back to their spots, "Who would like to go?"

"Let's go!" Ruby whispered to her team as her arm shot up, "We have a story, Doctor!"

"Ah, Team RWBY! After all you've been through, I'm not surprised, as long as it's not something regarding your experience in Haven?" Oobleck reminded them, since Ruby and the others were pretty much forbidden to talk about certain things that happened at Haven unless it was to people who had been there or trusted family members.

"No sir, it's about our mission at Crystal Cove." Weiss informed the teacher as she walked over with Ruby, glancing around and enjoying the stares she was getting from some of the boys and even some girls in the crowd. The dress she picked out truly looked radiant.

"Yeah, we've been wanting to tell everyone about this ever since we got back," Yang said, "So listen up!"

"Okay," Ruby began as she placed Zwei on her shoulder, "So it all started two weeks ago. Professor Goodwitch selected us for a mission at Crystal Cove, a small fishing village in the north coast of Vale. Something was scaring the villagers enough to attract Grimm…"

**Zwei, Where Are You?**

"They're retreating! Don't let up!" Ruby called as she used Crescent Rose's sniper rifle function to shoot the fleeing Beowolves into nothingness. She watched them through her scope, shooting them apart, their bodies fading into a burning black dust, and she reloaded to do it all over again.

She never got tired of it.

Yang kept firing on the retreating Grimm, her bullets weren't as long-reaching as those of Crescent Rose, but they still got the job done.

"Wouldn't dream of it, little sis!" Yang yelled as she blasted a Beowolf's head off. Zwei, standing next to Yang, barked as his nose pointed towards a tree. Yang fired at the tree, sending splintering bark into the air, forcing another Beowolf ran out from hiding, only to be blasted apart by Yang. "Thanks Zwei! No Grimm gets past your nose!"

Just then, Blake jumped onto one of the nearby buildings, adding her own bullets to the barrage with the advantage of high ground, taking out even more of the retreating beasts.

Weiss came from out of town and stood behind Ruby, having just dispelled her huge summon, Arma Gigas, which had done a fantastic job of scaring off the Beowolves and cutting their number down to size.

"Seafront clear?" Ruby asked.

"We wouldn't be here if it wasn't. The Sea Feilong that was leading the attack is history, and those Claw Hammers won't be giving the town any more trouble." Weiss assured her partner, "And I see you've cleaned up this quite nicely."

"Yeah, but I missed a spot…"Ruby replied before shooting another Beowolf into oblivion, "There!"

The four Huntresses surveyed the area, making sure that no Grimm were left alive in the area.

"And don't come back!" Yang shouted as she ejected the empty cartridges from her gauntlets, "Woo! Another day saved thanks to Team RWBY!"

Before the rest of them could speak, cheers and applause erupted behind them. The four girls turned to see the local Hunters and some police officers, as well as the mayor of Crystal Cove, an old man named Takamoto.

"Well done, girls! Our town is in your debt." Takamoto said gratefully as he bowed his head respectfully.

"Yeah," Said a local Huntress, "Our barricades weren't going to hold much longer. We're lucky you came."

"It wasn't anything special," Ruby said modestly.

"Tell that to the lives you've saved," Takamoto told the girl with a kind smile before turning to the police and the Hunters, "Have that barricade reinforced, just in case."

The Huntress nodded as Takamoto turned to Team RWBY and said "Once again, I must thank you."

"Don't worry about it. What I'd worry about is what caused this." Yang remarked.

"Yeah, what happened to attract the Grimm? Bank robbery? Murder? Local controversy or feud?" Ruby guessed.

"No, nothing like that," Takamoto denied before sighing and beckoning, "Come with me."

He led the four girls and their dog over to the other side of the small town, trodding over fallen leaves and branches.

"Have any of you ever heard of the Whittington family?" He inquired.

They all nodded while Weiss answered "I have. The family owns a highly successful and long-running fishing company, the most prominent in Vale. I've met them, though I don't know them that well."

"Whittington Tuna…" Blake said, licking her lips at the thought, making Yang try to suppress a laugh. Blake then stopped and looked at Weiss, "Wait, you've met them?"

"They attended my father's parties a few times, though mostly out of obligation and duty from how their son put it. They're a kind and generous lot, not snobby like the usual sort my father associates with." Weiss commented, "There's Joseph, the head of the family, his wife Hanna, who used to be an actress, and their children Franklin and Indria. I knew they live here, but is something wrong?"

Takamoto nodded warily, "You could say that."

He then pointed up. Team RWBY and Zwei stopped and looked to where he was pointing and there, atop a very large hill at the edge of the town, was a huge, gothic looking mansion that had seen better days. About four stories tall, painted dark brown with so many windows it would be hard to count them all, especially since they were all dark. There were balconies, gables, statues and towers...it was like something out of a gothic artist's rendition of a haunted house. The lights were out, but the manor was illuminated by the light of the Shattered Moon, making its imposing, dilapidated form all the more ominous.

"Whoa. Now that's a haunted house if I've ever seen one." Ruby remarked.

"It is." Takamoto confirmed, making the girls look at him.

"I'm sorry, what did you just say?" Asked Blake, surprised.

"You see, this town was founded by the Whittington family about a hundred-and-fifty-two years ago, and they built that house for their clan," He began, "Gregor Whittington was the head of the family at that time, a great general in the Valean army who had gained quite the fortune in his travels, but he made plenty of enemies in his time. The legend goes that the house was cursed by one of his foes, to torment his descendants long after his death."

"Well that's dumb," Commented Yang, "Curse some dude's family even after he's been dead and buried for a hundred years?"

"Rage can blind people, Yang," Blake reminded her partner.

"Indeed. The tale varies, so he either buried a cursed relic or a treasure beneath his home. There have been rumors and stories dating back as far as I can remember. Even my grandfather had an experience. When he was a young man he claimed to have seen the spirit of Gregor Whittington's daughter, who died of a disease when she was about your age, Miss Rose." Takamoto explained.

Ruby nodded, "So...what's up?"

"Well, there's a legend that an artifact, the source of the curse, is buried somewhere underneath the mansion, deep within the catacombs. If it should ever be disturbed, spirits of vengeance will come forth from the underworld and...well, I think you're smart enough to work out what comes next." He stated, making Ruby shiver.

"Wait, are you saying that…" Weiss began.

"I'm afraid so. About a week ago, Joseph Whittington came to me, saying that his children had found a strange relic in an old passage way they were exploring. Shortly after that, odd things began happening. Lights turning on and off and even moving through the hallways, strange figures have been seen standing on the rooftops and balconies, and loud, unusual noises can be heard all day and all night," Takamoto before adding "And no one has seen the Whittingtons for the last five days."

"Oh man, are you serious?" Yang asked.

"Very. Their maid even fled in terror. I'm not one to believe in superstitions, but I can't deny the things I saw with my own eyes. I saw a large dog, glowing eyes and shimmering fangs, bounding across the hillside the other night, and when we tried to get inside of the house, we heard horrible voices demanding we leave!"

"Zoinks! Sounds super creepy!" Said Ruby as Zwei rubbed against her leg, apparently nervous.

"Indeed. The whole town is terrified, they fear that these spirits will attack us, that's what drew the Grimm to our village," Takamoto elaborated, "And while we have discussed breaking into the house to try and discover what happened to the Whittingtons, our Hunters and police have been too preoccupied with the Grimm."

"Maybe we should take a look." Blake volunteered.

"Um, really?" He asked, taken aback.

"Yeah. Trust us, sir, we've faced far worse things than a few ghosts." Yang told him.

Ruby sighed, she wasn't totally on board with going into a haunted mansion, but she had to admit that it didn't seem too crazy after what they had gone through. She wouldn't let any ghost scare her away. "If you don't mind, we can try to get to the bottom of this."

"Please, Mayor. We have to find out what happened to the Whittingtons." Weiss voiced.

"And deal with whatever is inside, because if nothing is done about it, the townspeople's fear will only draw more Grimm." The silver-eyed agreed, before she noticed Blake's ears were twitching and she was looking around.

"Do you hear that?" The Cat Faunus asked.

All of a sudden there was an odd, slightly muffled sound coming from up the hill, from the general area of the house.

"Uh, I'm gonna take a wild guess and say that's the noise you've been hearing?" Ruby asked Takamoto.

"Very astute, Ruby." He confirmed before Yang spoke up.

"Hey what's that?" She asked, pointing to a small cottage within the grounds of the mansion, and the lights were on.

Takamoto turned and saw the cottage, "Oh, that's the groundskeeper's cottage, it's where the family's gardener, Old Man Messick, lives. He refuses to leave, even though the maid ran off."

"Hmm, then we'll ask him a few questions before we check out the house." Ruby decided before she walked ahead, her team and Zwei following her.

"Good luck." Takamoto bid them as he watched them embark up the hill, but as he looked up the hill he glared as he saw through the windows on the first floor, and could see a light moving through the darkness.

They reached the gates that circled the property, and managed to get over them via a glyph Weiss created. They all landed easily, with Zwei landing in Ruby's hands, "Thanks Weiss," She said to her partner before saying "Okay, now let's get to work and solve this mystery!"

The girls approached the cottage, a one-story home with a little shed by the side, where an old gardener's van with an odd blue, green and orange color scheme was parked under the roof. The front door opened up as they got close, the porch light turned on so they got a better look at Old Man Messick, he was a short old man with dark gray hair and large glasses. "Who's there? You're trespassing!" He called.

"Um, excuse us sir, but we're here to investigate the weird stuff that's been happening." Ruby said gently.

His eyes moved around, taking in the four girls. "You're not from around here. You look familiar, but I'd recognize beauties like you if you were."

"We're Team RWBY of Beacon. Sent to help out with the Grimm problem." Weiss justified.

"Oh, now I remember," Old Man Messick said as he looked to Yang, "She broke that kid's leg in the Vytal Tournament, right?"

"Hey, he tricked me! Plus his leg was robotic!" She snapped.

The old man laughed and said "Just joking. I know, Franklin and Indria are fans of you girls and the things you've done. Anyway, I thought I heard a battle, but let me guess; the spooky stuff happening here is the cause of it?"

"From what we can tell." Blake confirmed.

"Mr. Takamoto explained the situation to us, and we decided to look into this and do something about it so the townspeople won't be afraid anymore." Ruby told him.

He nodded. "Well come in, please," He stood aside from the door, gesturing to get in, "Before one of those things comes prowling around."

The girls walked inside, but Zwei stopped and looked out, sniffing the air as he picked up a scent.

"Zwei! Come on!" Called Yang, and the dog hurried inside before Messick shut the door.

Inside of the house was cozy, though a bit cluttered. Shelves were on every wall, lined with plants, pictures, tools, books and knick knacks. There were only a few rooms, with the main one acting as both a bedroom and a living room.

"Sit down, my dears. Sorry about the mess, but this place wasn't built for guests." Messick told them as most of Team RWBY sat down on a couch while Yang leaned against a table.

"It's nothing, Mr. Messick...but is what Mr. Takamoto told us true?" Blake inquired.

"If he told you about the cursed relic from the enemies of Gregor Whittington, then, yeah, that's the story." He stated, "I always knew the relic was somewhere in the house, but Mr. Joseph never took it seriously once he grew up, but when the kids found it in one of the old passageways, I begged them to put it back, lest they invoke the spirits."

"And they didn't listen?" Weiss observed.

"Obviously not. They figured they could put it on display, but that night, strange things began happening. Doors opened by themselves, we could all hear sinister voices whispering from all around us and footsteps in rooms that were empty, and strange figures moving through the halls. A few days ago, I was woken up the sound of screaming coming from the house. I rushed outside and up the hill, but then Miss Jaffe, the maid, burst out of the house, claiming the monsters had gotten the Whittingtons!" Messick told them.

"Oh wow, really?" Ruby asked, intrigued.

"Oh yeah! I went inside and tried to search the house, but I couldn't see or hear any of the Whittingtons! I tried to go to the upper floors, but this horrible force kept me from going up the stairs!" He exclaimed.

Team RWBY listened to the old man's tale in rapt attention, listening to every word of it.

"So, why didn't you run away like Miss Jaffe?" Asked Weiss.

"I've lived here for most of my life. I lost my own family to the Grimm when I was around your age. I wandered Vale in a depressed slump like a vagabond, until Mr. Whittington's grandfather took pity on me and gave me a job serving the family. After a while, I didn't feel like a servant, I felt like a member of this family. I've been here since Mr. Joseph was a baby, and I have watched him grow into a fine man, married a wonderful woman and have some great kids. I owe everything to this family, so I won't let some specter frighten me away!"

Ruby smiled, "That's really brave."

"Indeed, your loyalty is very admirable." Weiss voiced, impressed.

"Thank you, but what do four plan on doing?" He asked.

"We go inside, find out what happened to the Whittingtons and solve this mystery and learn how to undo this curse," Ruby told him decisively, "If we can't do it on our own, we can get help from Professor Crane at Beacon, he loves this kinda stuff."

Messick thought about it before reaching into his pocket and taking out a key, "This is a key to the front door of the manor. Please, do your best to get them back and save them." He pleaded.

Ruby took it from him and nodded, "We'll do it, I promise."

"And a promise from Ruby is no joke." Yang added with a confident nod.

Ruby led her team out the door, Zwei trotting beside her as they set up the hill and towards the dark mansion.

"Thank you girls! Thank you!" Old Man Messick called before he shut the door. As Blake lingered behind her team, her ears twitched as she could hear the old man speaking to someone else.

Team RWBY, plus Zwei, arrived in front of the mansion. They looked up, taking in its dark majesty.

"Wow, they sure don't make 'em like this anymore." Yang remarked.

"And for good reason," Ruby muttered, "All it needs is a thunderstorm and we're set. Okay, let's go!" She marched forward, ready to insert the key into the lock…

Only for the door to swing open by itself

The girls all jumped back, Zwei yelped as he hid behind Yang.

"Uh...Weiss? Please tell me that rich people like you have automatic doors." Ruby pleaded.

"Sometimes…" Weiss answered, trying not to sound afraid, "But they fell out of style because the systems tended to be buggy."

"Oh...I hope that's what this is." Ruby whispered before she took a step forward. Her teammates followed her, and they went inside together, stepping in and causing the floorboards to creak loudly, echoing throughout the seemingly empty mansion.

They took around the huge main hall of the house, a staircase leading up to the second floor platform, hanging above the hall. Many old pictures and portraits decorated the walls, while an old bookshelf hugged the side of the staircase and two old suits of knight armor stood in on stands on opposite sides of the hallway, as if on guard. A huge, antique crystal chandelier hung overhead, unlit and subtly swaying through the air.

"Wow, if you light it up and dust it a bit, this place wouldn't be so spooky." Ruby commented.

"Don't know about that, Rubes. I think it could use a paint job." Yang remarked as she looked at a fake Grimm head mounted on the wall, "Think they go to the same guy as Port?"

"Probably," Ruby snickered as she spotted the lightswitches on the wall. She walked over and flipped them, causing the lightbulbs on the chandelier to activate and illuminate the room. "There we go...and it's still kinda creepy."

Weiss nodded, "I suppose if my house was this dark, empty and dilapidated, it would be rather eerie." She said as she walked over and examined the antique knight armor, half expecting it to move.

Blake wandered ahead, treading lightly did nothing to stop the creaking floorboards, but stopped upon finding an open doorway leading into a family room. "Hey, over here."

The others joined her in the family room as she turned the lights on, showing a fairly large space will walls made up of shelves containing books and movies, while a portrait of a family hung over the fireplace. They were all dark-skinned and brown-eyed with black hair and appeared to be happy. The father, Joseph, appeared to be in his early fifties with a few grey hairs, wearing a decent looking suit. His wife, Hanna, was a gorgeous woman with caramel skin and shiny black hair, her age not showing despite having two teenage children.

"Hey, isn't that Hanna North, the actress?" Yang asked as she recognized the woman.

"It is, she married Mr. Whittington and retired from acting to raise a family." Weiss explained as they examined Franklin Whittington, a handsome young man about Ruby's age with a slight cockiness to his smile. Indria was slightly younger, appearing to be about fourteen years old, with black hair tied up in a ponytail and a bright smile gracing her lips. Beside Indria was a well-bred, noble looking Great Dane.

Zwei looked up at the painted dog, squeaking in what Ruby assumed was admiration.

"Those are the Whittingtons. Now we just have to find them." Weiss said as she looked around, taking out Myrtenaster.

"Wait a minute, I hear something moving in the foyer." Blake announced, turning around and whipping out Gambol Shroud. Ruby quickly took out Crescent Rose in its scythe form while Yang activated the Ember Celicas.

"Let's get a look at this gho-"

"_**GET OUT!"**_ Shouted a voice out of nowhere.

The sudden scream was so loud that Blake covered her cat ears, while Zwei was so startled that he jumped up into Ruby's arms.

"**Get out of this house!"** Demanded a raspy, furious voice, **"Or else you shall be our next victims!"**

"What the hell is tha-" Yang began to say before all of the girls were jerked backwards towards a wall as one of the bookshelves collapsed into the floor. They tried to stop themselves, their legs grinding against the floor as the invisible force kept pulling.

Blake cried out as she strained to keep herself still, but then she realized something, whatever this force was wasn't pulling on her, it was pulling on Gambol Shroud! To test this theory, she let go of her weapon, letting it fly into the dark space of the wall.

"It's some kind of powerful magnetic field! Let go of your weapons!" She shouted. Weiss did so reluctantly, allowing her rapier to vanish into the darkness as well.

"B-but it's my baby!" Cried Ruby as she kept a possessive grip on Crescent Rose.

"Ruby, we'll get it back! Let go!" Weiss called.

Ruby hesitantly let her precious weapon go flying out of her grasp and towards the darkness. "I'll find you!" She shouted as Yang let her left Ember Celica go flying, but it didn't stop the magnetic force from pulling her towards the darkness.

"Uh, girls? Little help!" She called as it pulled on her robotic hand.

They all rushed over to Yang and grabbed a hold of her to keep her still, with Zwei even pressing himself against her boots to keep her steady.

All of a sudden, the magnetic force ceased, and the four girls fell backwards onto the floor.

Yang moaned as Zwei walked over to her head, licking her to make sure she was unharmed. "I'm okay, boy. Thanks." She managed to say with a smile as Blake got up. "What was that?"

"An incredibly strong magnetic pull." Blake informed her partner, "Probably meant to disarm any intruder."

"Disarm us so we can't harm the ghosts? And why would a ghost need magnets instead of ghostly powers? Something's fishy." Weiss stated.

"Oh, these ghosts are gonna regret taking our weapons!" Ruby declared passionately with a furious face and her eyes subtly glowing, "I'll make 'em wish they had stayed in their graves!"

"**You cannot defeat us…"** Came the menacing voice, seemingly from all around them, **"This is your final warning, leave this house and leave us be, and the Whittington family will be returned in time."**

"In time? What do you want with them?" Weiss demanded.

"**Get out...leave this house...the Phantasm has spoken…"** The voice said, before an eerie, insane sounding laughter erupted from all over the house.

"Well...what do we do now?" Asked Weiss.

"We get our weapons back and figure out a way to take these ghosts down." Ruby said confidently, a dead serious look on her face, before leading the way back into the main hall.

"I'd hate to be the ghost who runs into her." Muttered Weiss as they followed the younger teen.

"Okay, gang," Yang began as they went into the foyer, "Let's split up and look for clues."

"Uh, I think that's my line," Ruby pointed out before saying, "But good idea. Blake, you and me will search the upstairs and Zwei can come with us. Weiss and Yang, you two check out the rest of this floor."

"Why switch partners?" Weiss wondered.

"Team building." The silver-eyed girl answered simply as she moved towards the steps, not noticing the bemused look on her partner's face.

Weiss glanced back and noticed something was wrong, "Uh, weren't there two suits of armor over there?"

They all turned to see that one of the armored suits was indeed missing. "That must have been what I heard, someone or some_thing_ is inside of the armor." Blake surmised as she began to follow Ruby up the stairs.

"But where?" Pondered Weiss.

She suddenly got her answer, as the door flew shut, revealing the Knight was standing right behind the door, sword in hand! It snarled menacingly as it approached them.

"Oh man!" Cried Ruby as the Knight attacked, swinging its sword in the air.

Weiss avoided a thrust as the blade stabbed into the bit of floor she had been standing on as Yang rushed forward and tried to punch the knight, but it sidestepped her blow and elbowed her in the gut and sent her colliding into the bookshelf with a powerful kick.

"Yang!" The others cried as the Knight marched forward, while Weiss ran over to help her as Ruby, Blake and Zwei watched from above, ready to strike.

"Go!" Yang cried, "Run and split up! He can't get us all!"

Hesitantly, Ruby, Blake and Zwei retreated through a door on the second floor.

Weiss helped Yang up as the Knight lumbered towards them with its sword posed to strike, only for Blake to jump down in front of them.

"Go!" She ordered.

Weiss and Yang moved towards the doorway that led further into the house. They looked back to see the Knight swing its blade and cut Blake down, her body slamming into the old floor.

"No!" Screamed Yang as she began to charge, only to stop as she saw Blake's body fade away, just like her clone Semblance.

"That clever kitty…" She muttered as she used the Ember Celica to shoot the knight several times in the chest, causing it to fall over with a heavy metallic clatter.

Weiss stepped forward, watching the Knight as it struggled to get up, observing the way it moved, only for Yang to grab her arm and shout, "Let's go!" The brawler hauled her off into the house, while the Knight pushed itself up and stared at their retreating forms.

* * *

Upstairs, Ruby, Blake and Zwei wandered the dark, empty hallways. Their footsteps caused the floor beneath them to creak and shift, and the sounds of branches scratching against the windows and the wind blowing outside weren't helping things.

"I hope they'll be okay," Ruby voiced, "I feel awful leaving them behind."

"I do too, but I think they'll be fine, you know how hard it is to keep either one of them down. Imagine how hard it is to fight both of them at once." Blake remarked, getting a smile out of Ruby.

"So...do you think this place is really haunted?" Ruby asked her Faunus friend as Zwei trotted ahead.

"We'll have to learn more," Blake decided, "We can't simply jump to conclusions, we need to find out as much as we can about these so called spirits and curses."

Ruby nodded as she spotted a door in the hallway. Deciding to investigate, she opened it and turned the lights on to reveal a billiard room.

"Wow, this place is old. I doubt even Weiss' family has one of these." Ruby commented before she shut the door and rejoined Blake, who had walked further down the hall.

She glanced back, just in case they weren't alone. "Uh, Blake? Do you believe in ghosts?"

Blake looked to Ruby as she approached her and answered, "I'm not entirely sure, but I have an open mind about it.. With all the amazing things our world has to offer, the stories about spirits and with just how little we know about what happens after we pass on, I don't feel like saying yes or no."

"I guess that's how I feel about it too, but I kinda lean on hoping so." Ruby replied.

"Why?" Blake asked her as they approached another door, one that Zwei was sniffing at.

"Because it gives me hope. If souls can go on after a body dies, then it means that there's something waiting for us when we pass away. I really, really hate the idea of oblivion." Ruby explained, shuddering at the idea of absolute nothingness.

"No argument there," Blake agreed as she opened the door and turned on the lights to reveal a trophy room. Mounted heads of various animals, both predators and herbivores were the prey of man, with numerous kinds of trophies and medals made of gold or silver or bronze placed on shelves and in cases. Small statues, also made of gold or silver, all lined the walls, with framed newspapers and photos of special events the Whittingtons had won over the years.

"Wow, this family sure has a history," Ruby commented as she looked at the papers, highlighting a Whittington who was a Huntress being honored for her heroic deeds, a Whittington who was a sports star being honored at a retirement party… "And they don't seem to be all business like the Schnees."

"They're not Atlesians, that's one reason for it." Blake remarked as she looked at an award Hanna Whittington had won for her voice performance in an animated movie from before her children were born. She turned around to what appeared to be a more recent section and saw framed newspaper headlines. She hummed with interest as she read them outloud, "'Whittingtons Donate Two Million Lien to Victims of the Vytal Disaster', 'Joseph Whittington Takes Salary Cut So Local Workers Can Keep Jobs', 'Low Year for Fishing Industry'. Hmmm, seems like the Whittingtons haven't been having the best of luck recently."

"They seem pretty generous." Ruby commented.

"Yeah, I've read about Joseph Whittington, he was a frequent contributor to a lot of charities, even ones for the Faunus." Blake responded, "I hope they're all right."

Ruby nodded and said "If we can't find them, hopefully Professor Crane can figure out what to do, or at least knows someone else versed in the supernatu-"

She was cut off by a loud, ferocious barking, that made both girls jump in surprise as Zwei dashed in front of them, growling.

"Wanna bet that was the dog Mr. Takamoto saw…" Ruby muttered as Blake shivered nervously.

"I can here something coming this way…" She said before Zwei darted out into the hallway and began barking at something.

"Zwei, no!" Cried Ruby as she dashed out after him, only to stop dead in her tracks when she saw a large, snarling, savage looking dog with glowing eyes and fangs that glistened in the light from the open doorway.

With a loud bark, the evil-looking dog charged towards them, its feet hammering against the floorboards. Ruby grabbed the barking Zwei and rushed into the trophy room, letting Blake shut the door before the dog slammed its body into it.

"Man, that was close!" Ruby said as she turned back to see the door shaking and buckling as the dogs claws scraped against the wood that separated it from them, "Think that will hold?"

"Maybe, but not forever, we need a way out of here." Blake said as she turned to the window.

Ruby, put Zwei down and began to look around the trophies and the cases, searching for something while Blake looked out the window. "The drop wouldn't be too bad! I'll see if there's another window we can scale over to!"

She tried to unlock it and lift it open, but it wouldn't budge. "Oh for the love of…" Blake lifted up her booted feet and slammed into the glass, but the pane withstood her kick. She looked over to Ruby, still examining the trophies and the cases, "What are you doing? Help me with this!"

"I'm looking for a secret passage!" Ruby said as Zwei rushed over to the door and began barking at the ferocious hound.

"A what?" Blake asked incredulously.

"You read a lot! In books, movies, games and shows there's always a secret passage in an old, huge house like this, besides, Mr. Messick and Mr. Takamoto both said there were passageways!" Ruby justified as she peered at the trophies in a case.

"Ruby, that's a literary device! We can't expect it to just pop up in real life! And the passageways they were talking about probably weren't hidden!" Blake told her as she glanced at Zwei, still barking at the dog, which was now barking back.

Just then, the lower portion of the door shuddered as splinters of wood burst onto the floor.

"It's getting through! Ruby, help me break the window!" Blake demanded.

"Wait, I've found something!" Ruby said as she opened up a case, "All of these trophies are dusty, but this one spot on this trophy is clean! And there's a circle outline!"

She pressed the dust-free circle and all of a sudden another case moved backwards into the wall and then retracted sideways, revealing a dark passageway into the walls.

Blake stared, dumbstruck. "I don't believe it."

"Come on!" Ruby cried as she grabbed Blake's hand, "Zwei! Come on, we're going!"

Zwei barked a reply and ran over to them as the door began to crack, allowing them to glimpse the horrible dog, its red eyes glaring at them as it snarled furiously.

Blake saw a panel on the wall as they ducked inside and slammed her hand on it, causing the case to go back and seal off the entrance.

"Yes! We did it!" Ruby cheered.

Blake panted, collecting herself, "Good work Ruby, I was afraid we'd be trapped with that beast."

"No problem, I'm just glad my crazy idea turned out to be right." Ruby answered with a smile before saying "Too bad it's so dark I can see anything."

"Well I can," Blake said, her amber eyes also had the feline trait of being able to see in the dark. She dug out her scroll and used its flashlight function to light up the passageway, showing it as a narrow, dusty hall in between the walls filled with cobwebs, "Hopefully we can find a way out of here."

"And that it doesn't lead us to something even worse." Ruby added as she picked up Zwei and walked with Blake through the narrow passage.

* * *

The Knight's heavy footsteps echoed through the first floor as it searched for Weiss and Yang. It patrolled the halls, almost single mindedly, looking for any signs of the intruders.

It didn't even seem to care to investigate any of the rooms, as it marched past all the closed doors and only gave a cursory glance at the ones that were open. As it moved out of the halls and into the dining area, movement could be heard behind one of the doors.

"It sounds like the footsteps are far enough away now." Weiss whispered to Yang, who had her robotic arm aimed at the door, ready to open fire.

"So we're good?"

"Yes," Confirmed the heiress, "But let's keep it down, we don't want to draw attention to ourselves."

"Gotcha. Hey, you think this is Mr. Whittington's office?" Yang asked, looking around at the shelves full of binders and envelopes and there was a shut door to the left of the desk.

"Most likely. Perhaps we can find some clues here." Weiss decided as she walked over to the desk and sat down, turning on the lamp.

"Yeah, maybe there's something in here about where that relic is. If there's a key to stopping this haunting, that cursed thing is it." Yang voiced as she grabbed a small couch that leaned against the wall and lifted it up to barricade the door.

"I'm not so sure about that," Weiss spoke up.

"Huh? Why?" Yang inquired as she took hold of a chair in front of the desk to add on to the barricade.

"There was something about that knight that stood out to me, the way it moved was very familiar." Weiss stated as she rummaged through the desk.

"You think its someone we know?" The busty blonde asked, walking over to the desk.

"In a way. Didn't its movements look...robotic?" The heiress put forth as she glanced over to the barricaded door.

"So, we're dealing with a killer robot?"

"Possibly… Hello, what have we here?" Weiss said as she took out a piece of paper, "Interesting…"

"Whatcha you got?" Yang asked as she stood over the petite girl.

"It looks like a receipt, and it's dated from about a week ago." The Schnee heiress answered as she went over the items listed, "Shovels, pick-axes, drills, rock hammers…"

"It's all mining equipment, and it looks like Mr. Whittington signed for it." Yang observed as she pointed to his signature.

"That's odd, this isn't enough for an entire workforce, only a small operation," Weiss noted as she stood up, "And what would the owner of a fishing conglomerate want with mining tools?"

"All I know about this mystery is that it's getting weirder by the minute," Yang voiced as her smaller teammate walkedby her.

"Oh, and Yang, just so you know…"Weiss began as she leaned against the closed door, only for it to fly open, causing Weiss to fall down against the staircase the door concealed.

"Own!" Weiss cried in pain as her right arm took the brunt of the damage.

"You okay?" Yang asked as she helped Weiss up.

"I'll be fine. Blasted door wasn't fully shut." The ashen-haired girl said before they both looked up the stairs and into the darkness. "What do you think is up there?"

"Only one way to kn-" Yang stopped as they both heard the sound of heavy metal footsteps approaching the office. "Oh man, the Knight is back! I hope that barricade holds."

"Um, Yang? You barricaded the inside of the room, but the door opens the other way." Weiss pointed.

Yang's head slowly turned over to Blake and she responded with "What?"

"That's what I was trying to tell you before I fell." Weiss groaned.

"Well, you up for a trip upstairs?" Yang offered.

"Not much of a choice." Weiss deadpanned as they quickly went up the steps, shutting the door behind them, just as the Knight opened the door, finding an empty room with a barricaded doorway.

* * *

Meanwhile, Ruby, Blake and Zwei still wandered through the passageway, ducking under thick cobwebs and maneuvering around support beams.

"Uh, Blake? Do you think ghosts leave footprints?" Ruby asked.

"I don't know if they would or not. Why?"

"Because I just noticed there are footprints in the dust, and they look recent."

Blake looked down at the floor ahead of them and realized Ruby was right, these prints did look fresh. "Someone's been through here recently."

"Yeah, but who, or what, was it?" Ruby wondered as she saw the passageway ended ahead, ending at a section of wall that stood out from the rest, as it was far smoother.

"Let's see where this leads us…" Blake said as she pressed the button on the wall.

With a whirring of gears, the wall opened up to reveal the master bedroom. It was well decorated; the windows were adorned with silk curtains and the bed was well made, several dresser drawers lined the walls, as well as a vanity mirror and two desks. Two doors within the room were open, one led to a walk-in closet and the other to a bathroom.

"Nice," Ruby commented as she took in the room and looked at the bed, "Oh man, this bed looks good."

Without another word she turned around and let herself fall onto the lush bed, "Oh yeah!" She said, enjoying the soft, warm feeling of the mattress and the blankets. Zwei suddenly jumped up onto the bed and licked her face, making her laugh at the ticklish affection.

Blake smiled, it never ceased to amaze her how Ruby could always find time to enjoy herself, even in a life or death situation. It something that she found odd, yet admirable about her young leader.

"I'll search for clues. Maybe there's a journal that can fill us in, or maybe even a weapon we can use." Blake said as she walked over to the desk.

"Good idea, maybe even that cursed relic." Ruby said as she hopped off the bed and onto the carpet, "Then again, it's probably in the attic or basement."

"Considering what's happened so far, you're probably right." Blake noted as she opened up one of the desks and quickly took interest with what she saw, "Ruby, come look at this."

Ruby came over while Zwei hopped off the bed and moved to the door, as if to stand guard.

"What'd you find?"

"Bills, bank reports, documents about loans they made to the unfortunate in town...it looks like the Whittingtons are having some financial problems." Blake observed as she looked over the documents that were stored in the desk.

"Well, I guess they'd be running low with all that money they donated and with the fishing not doing too well." Ruby surmised before noting, "But they've got a lot of old fancy stuff in this house. Couldn't they just sell it to museums for money?"

"Some of those relics, like the trophies and paintings, probably mean too much to the family to give away." Blake guessed.

Ruby nodded, "Makes sense. Wait, do you think they went looking for the relic to sell it off for money? Maybe they figured it'd be worth some cash."

"Maybe...or maybe something else is going on here." Blake said.

* * *

"Ugh!" Groaned Yang as she pushed open the door, pulling the cobwebs out of her hair. "Would it have killed their maid to clean that stairway? There better not be any spiders in my hair."

"Even if the maid did run away, those cobwebs were there longer than five days." Weiss agreed as they walked out into a hallway. She looked out the window and down to the ground before saying "We seem to be on the third floor."

"Good, puts some distance between us and armor boy back there." Yang remarked as she walked forward, glancing back to make sure they weren't being followed.

Just then, there was a loud sudden noise, a strange noise that caused them both to jump.

"What was that?" Weiss asked as she stood close to the larger girl.

"Don't know...but it sounded like something hitting a microphone…" Yang noted as she walked around the corner and stopped dead in her tracks.

"Yang? What is it?" Weiss asked as she turned around and came to a halt at the sight of a traditional ghost, disguised in a white sheet with eyes peeking out of holes. "What in the name of Oum?"

"It's an old Fall Equinox costume!" Yang said, incredulously, "We've been had!"

_"Leave this house, and never return,"_ The Ghost gently ordered, its covered arm raising up and pointing at them, _"Leave before it is too late."_

"Look, drop the charade, okay?" Yang said as they stepped towards the Ghost, "I mean, this costume is pretty lame."

_"You know not what you speak of, mortal. Get out. Do not take my treat lightly."_ The Ghost told them, its voice growing more determined.

"First off, they should have sent a more imposing ghost. You're my height!" Weiss pointed out, "And second of all, my friend here has a gun for a hand!"

"Yeah," Yang said with a smirk, "So stop fooling around and tell us what you did with the Whittingtons!"

With that, Yang grabbed the sheet and ripped it off…

But there was nothing there.

Both girls were stunned silent, with eyes wide as they could go.

All of a sudden, a pair of brown eyes appeared, floating in midair. Staring directly at them.

_"Please give me back my skin. It's quite cold without it."_ Said the voice.

Weiss couldn't believe what she was seeing and stood as silent and still as a statue.

Yang, on the other hand, conveyed her shock in a different way.

"Oh shit!" She screamed as she dropped the sheet, picked up Weiss and raced away, rounding the corner and running as fast as she could.

Shaking out of it, Weiss managed to say "Y-yang...w-was th-that a g-g-g-"

"Ghost? Yes!" The blonde cried, "Now shut up and let me carry you so I can run for our lives!"

She kept running, coming into a large open area where there was a grand staircase, leading to the first and second floor. Yang leapt down over all the sets and crashed onto the second floor landing, her right knee and left foot slamming into the wood, creating a slight crater. Weiss had recovered somewhat and stood up, looking around for any sign of the Knight or the Ghost.

"Th-thanks for getting us out of there, Yang."

"No problem, Weiss. Running was all I had, bullets and punching aren't exactly the best weapons against ghosts." Yang remarked as she breathed in and out.

Weiss looked up the stairs and see that the Ghost was looking down on them, and to make matters worse, the heavy footsteps of the Knight could be heard nearby. She grabbed Yang, tugging her, "We're not free yet! Hurry!"

The two quickly ran off into the hallways of the second floor, the Ghost slowly following them.

"Keep running!" Cried Yang as they dashed through the halls so quickly, they didn't notice the door opening and some familiar figures stepping out.

Yang crashed into Ruby and Blake, sending all four girls sprawling onto the floor in a great heap, with Zwei beside them.

"Ow...did anyone get the number of that sister?" Ruby groaned as she rubbed her head, getting Weiss' foot off her face.

"This night just keeps getting better." Weiss muttered snarkily as she got to her knees and got off of her partner.

"What are you two doing up here?" Blake asked, muffled as she found her face buried in Yang's exposed stomach.

Yang pushed herself up and said "Running! We got a ghost, a real ghost, chasing us!"

"Really?" Blake asked as she was helped to her feet by Yang, "We saw the dog beast that Takamoto mentioned, we managed to escape through a secret passageway."

"This can't get any weirder." Weiss stated, only for Ruby to quickly place her hand over her mouth.

"Don't say that! Whenever you do that, it's asking for trouble!" She said.

Just then, a door on the left that they were in front of opened up to reveal a horrible figure; a Zombie! With ragged clothes and rotting skin, eyes that were dark and sunken, ratty hair and a horrible face, it moaned as its hands reached out with sharp nails.

"A zombie!" Cried Yang.

"Told you!" Ruby said to Weiss as the Ghost appeared at the end of the hall.

"_We warned you to leave, and now you will pay!_" The Ghost said.

"We'll pay! Weiss, how much do you got on you?" Ruby asked her partner, who shot her a look, "Just joking. Run for it!"

She shot off down the hallway, the rest of her team, and Zwei, not too far behind. The Ghost and the Zombie gave chase as Team RWBY dashed around a corner and into the depths of the mansion.

The Ghost and the Zombie watched as the intruders dashed into a room, part of a hallway with three doors on each side. The Zombie ran in after them, only for Team RWBY to reappear at the end of the hall from a door on the same side, running across into the opposite door, so the Ghost went into the closest door on that side. The middle doors on both sides opened as Ruby and Yang ran out of the right side and up the hallway while the Zombie ran out of the left side, only to skid to a stop and chase after the sisters as the Ghost chased after Weiss, with Zwei chasing the ghost at the top of the hall. Blake came out of the bottom left door, only to stop and wonder "Who builds rooms like that?"

Weiss came out of the door across from the Cat Faunus, grabbing her and hauling her away as Zwei followed, the Ghost still pursuing, just as the Knight appeared and joined in the chase.

Ruby and Yang came out into the main hall racing around the platform as the Zombie came after them. They noticed the high up on the walls were hooks linking up with strong chains that were attached to the impressive chandelier, to keep the heavy thing steady.

Ruby's eyes brightened as she grabbed one of the chains, "I got an idea! Unhook the chain!"

Yang did so, forcing the chain to go slack as Ruby jumped onto and off the handrail, swinging down and up into the air towards the Zombie, who received a strong kick from the girl, knocking him harshly into the wall.

"Way to go!" Yang cheered as Ruby jumped back onto the floor, before grabbing her younger sister, "Now hang on!" She ordered as she ran past the Zombie, kicking him again for good measure, before jumping over to the bannister and sliding down to the first floor.

Meanwhile, the Ghost and the Knight stalked through the halls of the second floor, coming to a staircase where they saw Blake heading to the first floor.

"_Now we have you! Knight, seize her!_" The Ghost shouted.

The Knight stomped down the stairs and tried to grab the Faunus, only for Blake to sidestep the attempt. The Ghost moved to block her off, jumping at Blake, only for the Faunus to vanish the moment it touched her!

"_What the?!_" The Ghost said, baffled, as Blake Semblance-generated clone vanished.

All of a sudden, Blake, Weiss and Zwei appeared at the top of the staircase, with Weiss using her Semblance to create a glyph that allowed them to jump past the monsters and onto the first floor, where they took off to the main hall.

Just then, the monstrous dog appeared out of one of the hallways, growling as it followed the intruder's scent.

"_After them!_" The Ghost commanded, and the dog obeyed, racing down the steps and after its query.

"There they are!" Ruby called to her friends as they raced down the hall towards them.

"And they're not alone!" Yang proclaimed, pointing at the dog bounding after them. She aimed her remaining Ember Celica and said, "Duck! I'll blast it!"

"No!" Shouted a voice from above. Ruby and Yang looked up to see the Zombie, glaring furiously down at them. "Get out!" It said in a much more monstrous voice.

Weiss and Blake finally reached them, the former saying "Let's go!"

Ruby nodded and rushed over to the door, opening it up for the others.

Zwei suddenly skidded to a halt and turned to face the monster dog, barking at it fiercely. "Zwei, no!" Yang cried as the much larger dog came to a stop, barking and snarling viciously at the furious Zwei.

Yang aimed at the dog monster, ready to protect her pet, only to drop her arm in surprise as it sat down and began barking at Zwei, but not in an intimidating fashion, but like a normal dog responding to another of its kind. Zwei also dropped his fierce demeanor and began barking more softly at the larger canine, as if they were having a conversation!

"I don't believe this." Weiss said as she watched the strange scene.

Ruby couldn't help but laugh at her little dog managing to bring a huge beast like that to a standstill, but they still needed to escape. So, fueled by her Semblance, she rushed forward and grabbed Zwei, saying "Sorry, but you can talk bones and digging up flowers another time!"

She rushed out of the house, her team following her with Yang slamming the door shut behind them.

"Whew!" Exclaimed Yang, "We made it!"

"Yes, but without our weapons." Blake pointed out.

"And still no sign of the Whittingtons." Weiss added before asking "What next?"

"**LEAVE!"** Demanded the furious, raspy voice from before as the door opened by itself once again, **"Stay out of our business, meddling girls! Should you return to this house, you shall never see the sun again!"**

The door slammed shut on its own, leaving the four girls and the dog alone outside the mansion in the dark of night.

"We can't just leave this alone. We have to do something." Stared Ruby, determined.

"Let's stop and put together what we've found so far. I, for one, don't think this is a legitimate haunting." Blake voiced.

"We thought so too when we saw that ghost," Yang began, "We thought we were being tricked by a lame costume, but when I pulled the sheet off, there was nothing under there but a pair of floating eyes!"

"Oh man…" Shuddered Ruby, "Tell me you at least found something about that cursed relic?"

"Nothing," Answered Weiss, "The only peculiar thing I can recall, aside from the things chasing us, was a receipt for some mining equipment in Mr. Whittington's office."

"Mining equipment?" Repeated Blake, her curiosity piqued.

"Yeah, but not enough for a whole crew, just for a minor operation, according to Weiss." Yang added, "You two find anything?"

"We did, as a matter of fact," Blake confirmed, "When we were in the master bedroom, I came across bills, loan documents and bank reports that didn't look very good."

"And we saw those newspapers about the donations they made and the low fishing." Ruby reminded.

"And the way that Knight moved were robotic, and quite familiar." Weiss remarked.

"And when I got ready to shoot that monster dog, the Zombie seemed pretty concerned for it." Yang noted.

"And that ghost seemed pretty surprised by clone. You'd think it would be able to tell the difference." Blake realized.

"Wait a minute…" Weiss spoke up, "When Yang and I arrived on the third floor, we heard an odd sound, like something hitting a microphone…"

"And there's the fact that despite being an evil monster, that dog seemed pretty cool with Zwei a few minutes ago." Ruby pointed out.

The four girls considered the situation, the clues they had come across and the strange things that just made the whole ordeal stranger.

"Wait a minute," Ruby said, as an idea came to her, "Takamoto mentioned a legend about Gregor Whittington's treasure…What if there is no relic?"

"What do you mean?" Asked Yang.

"I think she's right," Said Blake, "When we left Mr. Messick's cottage, I could have sworn I heard him speaking to someone."

"Maybe he was just talking to himself. You know old people." Weiss countered.

"Maybe, but still, I think we should pay Mr. Messick a visit and ask him some questions." Ruby suggested as she began walking down the hill towards the cottage, her team and her pet following her.

Yang glanced back, and saw a shape moving through the windows of the house.

Blake knocked on the door of the cottage, calling "Mr. Messick? It's Team RWBY! We just escaped from the house, and we think there's something else going on here."

No answer came.

"Think he fell asleep?" Yang asked as Ruby looked through a window.

"I don't see him in his bed or on the couch. Maybe he went into town?" The youngest of the four asked.

"His car's still here," Weiss shot down, "And it's not a good idea for an old man like that to walk down steep hills at night."

"Well I don't hear anything moving inside either," Voiced Blake said.

"Let me try something…" Yang said as she grabbed the doorknob and turned it, surprised to find it unlocked. She pushed it open and cautiously went inside, the rest of the team following her.

"Hello? Is anyone there? Knock once for yes if you're alive, twice if you're a ghost." Ruby said.

All of a sudden there were two knocks.

Ruby and Weiss leapt into each other's arms as Blake jumped up onto the bed while Yang whirled around, her robotic hand aiming for anything out of the ordinary...and then she saw what it was.

"Zwei!" She scolded, seeing Zwei had knocked over a hammer that had been propped against a table leg.

He whimpered in apology as the others calmed down.

"This is just great. Now there's five people missing instead of four, we've been chased out of the mansion and we've lost our weapons!" Weiss listed off.

"Don't remind me," Said Ruby sadly, missing her beloved Crescent Rose.

Weiss walked over, looking into the kitchen and seeing no one there. She sighed and leaned against a bookcase the hugged the wall, and then glanced over to a book that was strangely pushed to the back, nearly hidden by the others. She reached in and pulled it forward, only for the entire wall to turn around, causing her to let out a yelp of surprise.

"Weiss?!" Ruby cried as she ran over to the now blank, but dusty, wall.

"What just happened?" Yang asked.

"I think Weiss stumbled upon another secret passageway." Blake surmised as they stepped forward.

"Weiss, are you okay?" Ruby called, pressing up against the wall.

They could hear Weiss' voice through the wall, "I'm okay, just surprised. I'll try to…"

All of a sudden the wall swiveled around once more, but now Ruby was taken to the other side as Weiss reappeared.

"Ruby!" Blake and Yang exclaimed, while Zwei barked nervously.

"Oh great," Weiss groaned.

"Get her back!" Yang demanded as she came over, "How'd you do it?"

"I just pulled on this book." Weiss explained as Blake joined them. Without thinking, Yang grabbed the book and pulled it forward.

The process repeated, Ruby returned into the cottage as her teammates vanished. Zwei barked and went over to Ruby, who knelt down and picked up the dog. "I'm okay boy. Are you girls back there?" She called.

The wall swiveled open again, and then came to a sudden stop when Yang brought herself in between the walls, pushing them apart as hard as she could.

"Ruby, get over here!" Yang told her sister, who nodded and ducked into the passageway, allowing Yang to jump back as the door came shut once more.

"Oh great, now we're all in a dark cavern. This literally cannot get better. I'm having fun, aren't you?!" Weiss said sarcastically.

"Calm down, Weiss," Ruby said as she placed a calming hand on her partner's shoulder, "This passageway must lead into the house. Right?"

"Most likely." Blake agreed as she got out her scroll, using the flashlight function to illuminate the dark cavern, showing a steep, old wooden staircase that led down to a dark tunnel.

"Well, I guess there's only one way to go." Yang said as she loaded up her gauntlet, leading the group down the stairs and into the tunnel, Blake lighting the way with her scroll with Weiss, Ruby and Zwei bringing up the rear.

Some three minutes later, after stumbling through the darkness and carefully making their way over rocks and under low support beams and low hanging cavern ceilings, before they finally came to a divide, both ways went up, one was an old staircase with a door at the top, but the other went further into darkness.

"Which way?" Asked Yang.

"The stairs." Ruby voted.

"Agreed, that's probably our best chance right now." Weiss answered.

Carefully going up the stairs, Yang opened the door and took in their new surroundings.

"Any idea where we are?" She asked as they followed her into a dark, but spacious room filled with old crates and furniture covered with sheets.

"The basement of the mansion, obviously." Weiss answered as she looked over to where water softeners and a furnace could be seen near a small staircase that presumably led up to the rest of the house.

Suddenly, there was a squeaking sound.

"That better not be a mouse," Weiss groaned.

"Nope," Yang said, amused as they all turned to Ruby, who had sparkling eyes and the happiest look on her face.

"Look!" She said in quiet, but obviously overwhelming, joy. Blake turned her scroll's light to where Ruby was looking, revealing their weapons!

Ruby sped over to her weapon, seizing it and spinning around with held firmly in her arms, "Oh thank goodness you're safe." She said to it cheerfully.

"On the one hand, I'm becoming somewhat worried about Ruby's weapons obsession. On the other, it is good to have them back." Weiss commented as she gripped Myrtenaster, smiling at the blade.

Blake retrieved Gambol Shroud while Yang fastened on the left Ember Celica, smirking.

"Now that we have our weapons, let's give these ghosts and monsters a reason to be afraid." Yang suggested.

"Hold on Yang," said Blake, "I don't think we're dealing with the supernatural here."

"Neither do I, to be quite honest." Agreed Weiss.

"But you saw nothing under that sheet." Ruby pointed out.

"That's true, but what if it wasn't a ghost? What if it was a Semblance?" Weiss suggested.

Ruby and Yang's eyes widened, "I think I'm beginning to get it…" The former said with a slight smile, "Okay, anyone got an idea for a trap?"

"I think I do, but I hope you don't mind being the bait, Ruby." Blake told her leader.

"That's an idea I'm not crazy about," Yang objected, placing her hands on her hips, uncomfortable with her little sister being bait for potentially dangerous enemies, even when she was armed.

"Neither am I, but she is the fastest." The Faunus pointed out.

"It's okay, I'm up for it." Ruby said, a brave look on her face, "Now, what do you have in mind?"

* * *

Ruby wandered through the house with Zwei by her side, Crescent Rose had been left behind as a way of giving their opponents a false sense of security.

"Let's see, if we were monsters prowling a big mansion for unsuspecting victims, where would we be?" Ruby wondered aloud as they walked into the kitchen.

Zwei all of a sudden perked up as he smelled something. He trotted over to the kitchen wall, where a bowl of dog food was placed. As he began chowing down, Ruby came over and asked "Not stale? I guess we can chalk up another one for this being fake."

Feeling hungry herself, Ruby walked over to the fridge and opened it up to reveal a fridge that was almost empty, as if the food had been relocated. Still, at least there was chicken. Ruby took up a piece and took a bite out of it, not minding that it was cold before she called "Hey ghosts, I'm eating chicken! Better come scare me when I least suspect it!"

Nothing happened, but Ruby could vaguely hear noises from elsewhere in the house. She looked over to Zwei, who had eaten his fill, and nodded before walking out of the kitchen and into the halls of the first floor once again.

Returning to the grand staircase, Ruby looked up to the floors above her, trying to get a glimpse of anything moving. All of a sudden, Zwei started growling as the sound of heavy footsteps could be heard approaching them from nearby. Ruby turned to the hall opposite her where the footsteps were coming from.

"Get ready to run for it," Ruby whispered to Zwei as the Knight got closer and closer.

Just then, something grabbed Ruby's shoulders from behind. She looked up to see the Zombie glaring down at her, its mouth open and growling.

"Hi there…" Ruby said, trying to sound scared before digging into her pocket and taking out a few Lien. She ripped herself free from the Zombie's grip as Zwei growled at him, only for Ruby to shove the money into the Zombie's hand and say "Here you go, gruesome! Go buy yourself a mask to hide that ugly mug of yours!"

She ducked under the Zombie's swiping hand, just as the Knight appeared in the corridor, its sword at the ready to attack.

"Come on, Zwei! Let's move!" Ruby shouted as she ran off, her faithful pet racing after her as the Zombie snarled loudly and pointed at them, barking at the Knight before they both gave chase.

Ruby picked up Zwei and ran down the halls, pictures and clocks zooming past her, as she glanced back to see the Knight and the Zombie following her. She smirked as she kept a pace they could follow before called "Oh no! The monsters are after me!"

In the main hall, the rest of Team RWBY stood at the ready, with Weiss looking over from the floor above with Myrtenaster held firmly in her hand, while Crescent Rose was leaning against the handrails. On the first floor, Yang and Blake stood flanking the doors, preparing to strike.

"They're coming, this is it." Said Blake as she gripped Gambol Shroud in katana form.

"I hope that is a robot in that armor," Muttered Yang, "Otherwise we're gonna have a whole lot of guilt."

"Relax, I'm very confident I know what's under there." Weiss remarked from above, before adding "Here they come!"

Ruby dashed into the main hall, turning around to look directly at her pursuers, trying her best to look hopeless. "Oh no! I am trapped and alone!" She said, trying her best to suppress a laugh.

Weiss, watching from above, rolled her eyes as she got ready to spring into action.

The Zombie entered first, not noticing Blake and Yang who pressed up against the walls. It snarled at Ruby, rotting teeth glistening with bloody saliva as it stalked towards her.

The Knight stepped into the room, sword in hand, when Blake shouted "Now!"

Yang leapt forward and landed two mighty punches on the Knight's chest-plate and side, firing off a shot of both Ember Celicas at point blank range. Blake, moving quickly, wrapped the ribbon of Gambol Shroud around the legs of the Knight and with a mighty pull, caused the thing to trip up and onto the ground.

Zwei moved quickly, running in between the Zombie's legs and over to the empty suit of armor. He jumped up, slamming his small body into the armor, causing it to fall over onto its mate, pinning it to the floor.

"All right!" Cheered Ruby as Weiss made her move, getting on top of the hand rails.

"Ruby, catch!" She called as she threw her partner's beloved weapon to her. Ruby caught it, and with swift, graceful movements, she transformed Crescent Rose into its scythe form and brought it up to the neck of the Zombie.

"Don't move!" Ruby ordered, as Weiss leapt off the railing and landed gracefully behind the Zombie, bringing her own blade up to the Zombie's back.

"I'd listen to her," Weiss suggested as she gently pressed the sharp end of Myrtenaster into the Zombie's back.

"Now, let's see if Weiss' theory is correct," Blake said as she knelt down next to the struggling Knight and took hold of its helmet. She pulled it off, to reveal a rather familiar robotic head.

"Just as I thought," Weiss voiced, "An Atlesian Knight 200 Model. I thought those movements were familiar."

Yang blasted the robot in the head, taking it out of the picture, before strutting over to where her sister and Weiss kept the Zombie pinned. "And now," She said importantly, "Let's find out who this Zombie really is…"

She grabbed the Zombie's head and pulled, ripping off the realistic mask to reveal none other than…

"Joseph Whittington!" All the girls announced in surprise, as the man sighed in defeat.

"Unreal," Ruby commented.

"Actually," Began Blake, "I think we've managed to piece the clues together to understand what's really going on here. It actually makes perfect sense."

All of a sudden, the bookcase placed on the side of the staircase swung to the right to reveal the Ghost and the monster dog, which snarled at the girls.

The Ghost seemed surprised, but soon recovered,"_Oh! Um...we figured you would fall for our trick! Mr. Whittington is our soulless zombie slave! He does our bidding and-_"

"Indria, sweetie, it's over. They found us out, you can stop it." Joseph Whittington told the Ghost with a resigned voice.

The Ghost was silent for a moment before saying "Aw man." The being under the sheet removed its cover, to reveal Indria Whittington, wearing a form-fitting leotard and an expression of disappointment. She reached down and pulled the mask off the large dog, revealing it to be the Great Dane that was in the painting and said to it, "Game's over, Duke."

"So, the Whittington family were behind their own disappearance and this whole haunting scam." Surmised Ruby.

"That's right, Miss Rose," Joseph admitted as Ruby and Weiss lowered their weapons.

"Just as I suspected. So where's Heather and Franklin? And Mr. Messick?" Asked Blake.

"Come with us, and we'll explain everything." Joseph promised as he walked to the open passageway behind the bookcase.

"No funny business? No more scares?" Asked Ruby.

"None," Joseph swore, "No point to it now. Just follow us and we'll answer all your questions."

Team RWBY and Zwei followed the father and daughter of the Whittington family, as well as their large dog. Going down creaky old wooden staircases into the catacombs and sub-basements of the mansion.

Upon arriving at their destination, Team RWBY were surprised to see a large antechamber underneath the house, with mighty stone pillars and thick wooden support beams keeping the house's foundation solid. There were several tunnel entrances, as well as a group of three beds scattered around an antechamber, with a makeshift computer station erected by the stone wall, where Hanna Whittington sat in a chair, looking rather unhappy.

Ruby couldn't help but notice a microphone on the desk and said "And I'm going to guess that you were the voice of the 'Phantasm', Miss Whittington?"

"Guilty as charged, Ruby," Hanna confessed as she stood up and called "Franklin! Donald! Come up here!"

From one of the tunnel entrances, Franklin Whittington and Mr. Messick emerged, the former looking starstruck at the sight of the Huntress team.

"It really is Team RWBY." He said, impressed.

"Yeah, and they've busted us." Donald Messick noted, somewhat bitter.

Joseph moved to stand next to his wife, taking hold of her hand before saying "I guess you'd like an explanation?"

"That would be nice." Ruby agreed with a nod.

"Actually, I think we've managed to work most of it out for ourselves." Blake answered, "Ruby and I saw those newspapers about the donations you made to the victims of the Vytal disaster, how you took a pay cut so your local branch of the fishing company wouldn't have to lay off workers and how the fishing in this region has been unusually low."

"Plus, we saw all those bills and documents, talking about financial problems and loans you gave to people in town." Ruby added.

"And so, with your personal finances not doing so good, you decided to look into the legend of Gregor Whittington's treasure." Weiss said.

"And you took advantage of the old legend of the cursed relic hidden somewhere in the house to explain your disappearance and frighten people away while you searched for the treasure." Yang put in, folding her arms under her breasts, a smirk of victory on her lips.

"That's the jist of it. Our personal financial problems were getting worse, due to the many donations and sacrifices we made. I refused to skim from our company's profits or cut my employee's payments for my own needs. We got the idea for all this about three months ago, when Indria happened to make a surprising discovery." Joseph began.

"Okay, so I love reading," Indria spoke up, "So the library in the family room is a treasure trove for me, there's even compartments behind the were used to store even more books, so one day when I was looking through the novels and textbooks, I found one of the hidden compartments but it was locked."

"We managed to break it open and discover what was hidden within; the journal of Gregor Whittington." Joseph added.

"Ya see, I was telling the truth when I told you girls that Joseph hadn't believed in the legend of Gregor's treasure or the cursed relic since he was a boy." Messick voiced.

"But when saw what was written in the last entry, my mind changed big time," Joseph Whittington explained, "Before he died, Gregor confirmed that he did bury a treasure somewhere in these catacombs, keeping it a secret from his family, should greed tempt them to waste it, as he meant for it to be a failsafe, should our family fall on hard times. He also created the myth of the cursed relic, to keep people from searching for the treasure, which we decided to use to our advantage, since we knew that if this became known to the public, we'd have more people trying to borrow money off of us, or even invite criminals to simply kill us and take the treasure for themselves."

"In other words, we needed this to scare off the moochers and the vultures." Messick added, getting a look from his employer.

"And so I used my connections to the entertainment industry," Said Heather, "You see, I made a lot of friends during my career, so I decided to call in some favors. The sound system I used to create the eerie whispers and voices were installed by Kasem, an old friend from college who works in communications."

"And that sound Yang and I heard on the third floor was you accidentally hitting the microphone." Weiss guessed.

"That's right, Weiss. Good to see you again, by the way." Hanna said with a small smile, "And Joseph's zombie makeup and the glowing mask Duke for were supplied by Stephenson, a special effects makeup artist who I became friends with twenty years ago on the set of a horror movie I did. He made them frightening enough to scare any intruders away."

"And the Atlesian Knight 200 was something I purchased from the SDC years ago for guard duty at the fish foundry in town. We were about to decommission it, but I noticed it was a perfect fit for the antique armor in the foyer, so decided to add it to our little 'haunting'."

"So that's why it wasn't very good at finding us, it's protocols were old and out of date, probably faulty." Remarked Weiss.

"Yeah, and we didn't want to draw any attention by asking for a repair." Franklin stated.

"Okay, but what about Indria the Ghost? How was she invisible when I pulled that sheet off?" Yang asked.

"Look behind you," Came Indria's voice.

Team RWBY turned around, all surprised to see nothing but Indira's eyes floating before them before she reappeared out of thin air. "You have an invisibility Semblance, just as I thought." Commented Weiss.

"Yeah, and this leotard was a birthday present from last year, it's specially made for people with skin changing Semblances to change with them, helping them blend it." Indria elaborated.

"And what's up with all these secret passages?" Yang inquired.

"These secret passages were from the original construction of the house, Gregor had a surprising sense of humor, if his journal entries are anything to go by." Joseph explained, "Most of my family and their friends used them to play games and tricks throughout the years, so we used them to get around the house unnoticed."

"And you used a giant magnet used to take our weapons," Ruby noted, "One that up that tunnel we didn't explore in the tunnel leading from Mr. Messick's cottage to the basement."

"Yeah, that was me," Confessed Franklin, "It was a special science project I worked on at school, one that could be activated and deactivated with the push of a button."

"And those receipts for mining equipment was obviously for the tools you bought to try and uncover the treasure, and the noises the townspeople heard were the drills and jackhammers echoing through the caverns and through cracks in the walls." Weiss said.

"And amplified by our sound system." Added Hanna sheepishly.

"So what about Miss Jaffe the maid? She ran away in terror, right?" Ruby asked.

"That's how she acted. Really it was time for her vacation, and used it to our advantage by having her appear to be scared out of her wits and leave town." Joseph cleared up.

"And the door opening by itself was Indria using her Semblance, and Mr. Messick used that sound system to tell you guys about it, which was what Blake heard when we left his cottage. Right?" Yang guessed.

"Right." Indria answered.

"And your dog wasn't really going to harm us, just chase us out of the house." Blake stated.

"You're really on a role." Commented Franklin.

"Duke, Indria and myself would go out at night, to make sure nobody dared approach our house. We intended to scare people away, but not scare them enough to attract the Grimm! We feel awful about that." Joseph said, regret dripping from his voice.

"It's okay, nobody was killed and there were only a few non-fatal injuries." Ruby assured him, glancing back to see Zwei walking with Duke into the leftmost tunnel, "Will they be okay?"

"Duke's very friendly, we had to train him like crazy to make him ferocious enough." Franklin told her before asking "So, what happens now?"

"Yeah, do we go to jail or what?" Inquired Indria, a tad nervous.

"What? No way!" Yang denied.

"What you did may have been reckless, but no one was seriously injured in the end, and the town is safe from the Grimm. Compared to other enemies we've faced, you're easily the most harmless and well-intentioned." Blake remarked.

"Besides, my own family has done far worse in public," Weiss stated, "While I think Mayor Takamoto won't be overly happy, I don't think he'll want you arrested."

The Whittington family were very relieved, smiling and sighing.

"So, the only thing left is to find the treasure." Ruby decided.

The Whittingtons and Mr. Messick gave her a surprised look, "You'd help us?"

"Of course! It'd suck if this was all for nothing." Yang said.

"Do you have any idea where it's buried?" Asked Blake.

"If we did we would have found it by now. All we know is that it's in these catacombs, but the journal doesn't say anything other than that. Gregor's Semblance allowed him to influence the earth to a minor degree, so he hid it extremely well. We looked in the journal for secret codes, hidden messages...but we can't find anything that indicates its exact location." Joseph told them.

"We've dug up a lot of dirt, but not treasure." Franklin commented.

"Well, we'll pitch in and help you find it!" Said Ruby.

"Thank you very much!" Said Hanna, gratefully.

Just then, the Whittingtons' Great Dane, Duke, suddenly barked loudly to get their attention.

"What's wrong with Duke?" Asked Yang.

"Sounds like the mutt's found something." Voiced Messick as he took out his flashlight and shined it into the cave the two dogs had gone into.

Mr. Messick and Joseph led the way into the left tunnel, which Duke's powerful echoed out of. They had to walk very carefully in the tunnel, mostly against the door, due to all the holes the Whittingtons and Messick had excavated, and the now hollow ground.

Duke came over, barking excitedly as his head motioned over to a very small opening in the wall, something small enough for a small to average-sized animal or person or child to enter. A hole had been dug up in front of it by the dogs, with Duke continuing to dig at it.

"What's that?" Asked Blake.

"We assumed it was a rat hole or something like that, we took a look into it and saw nothing," Joseph elaborated as Ruby grew concerned, "Looks like our dogs have widened it."

"Zwei? Where are you?" She called.

She was answered by Zwei's energetic barking from within the small tunnel. She knelt down and looked inside, "Hey Blake, can you see down there?"

Blake knelt down next to Ruby and looked inside, her superior Faunus eyes allowing her to see better. "I see him," She said, "It looks like he's digging…"

"Maybe he smells a bone?" Speculated Indria, as Blake could hear Zwei digging away furiously.

"No…" Muttered Blake, as her ears twitched, "I can hear...wait! His claws have hit something wooden!"

"Wooden?" Repeated Joseph, hopefully.

"Look!" Exclaimed Franklin, pointing down at where Duke was digging, now having dug two feet deep, revealing a small narrow pair of metal rails.

"There's something down there." Joseph said, determined.

"Hang on," Said Ruby as she poked her head into the tunnel, "Weiss, Indria! Get down to the ground with me.

"You're kidding." Weiss deadpanned as Indria sat down.

"We're the thinnest, Zwei and Duke have made it big enough so we can squeeze through. Zwei can't bring whatever he's found to us," Ruby reasoned, "If I get stuck, you can hold to me, like a human chain, then the rest of you can pull us out."

Everyone nodded, liking Ruby's plan.

Weiss sighed as she took off her jacket and gave it to Blake before she sat down, muttering "I hope this is worth it."

"Be careful, sis." Pleaded Yang as she accepted Crescent Rose, while Messick gave Ruby his flashlight. Now prepared, Ruby crawled into the tiny tunnel.

The silver-eyed girl squirmed through the constricting tunnel as Weiss came in behind her, doing her best to keep clean. The flashlight illuminated the cramped space, highlighting rock edges that ranged from dull and sharp. Ruby could see the hole Zwei had dug, he barked to Ruby, his tail wagging, as he signaled where his discovery was.

"Ow!" Weiss grunted as

Indria came up behind Weiss as Ruby managed to finally reach the hole, with Zwei hopping up behind the hole. Ruby's eyes widened in awe as she announced "It's a chest!"

"What?!" Exclaimed everyone else in surprise.

"It's a wooden chest!" Ruby called as she reached forward and grabbed hold of the handle of the chest, "Weiss, grab onto my feet!"

The Schnee heiress did so, grabbing her partner's boots firmly before saying, "Indria, take hold of mine!"

Indria took hold of Weiss' fashionable, dirtied boots before saying "Okay Ruby, do you have it?"

"I got it!" Ruby called back, managing to haul the heavy container up with all her strength, the muscles in her arms bulging as she lifted it up.

"Pull us out!" Demanded Indria.

Yang, Blake, Joseph, Franklin, Hanna and Mr. Messick grabbed hold of Indria's legs and worked together to pull as strongly as they could.

As she was pulled backwards, Ruby managed to place the heavy chest onto the ground so now she only had to drag it with her as she was hauled towards the exit while the flashlight was being pushed forward by the box. She glanced over to see Zwei trotting after them, and she gave him a proud grin and he responded with a happy bark.

Weiss' boots finally emerged, and Yang and Blake quickly took hold of their teammate and hauled her out. More of Weiss was revealed, her outfit now dirtied and stained as she emerged from the hole, her hands still gripped on Ruby's boots.

"Okay Ruby, we're pulling you out!" Yang told her sister as she grabbed her legs and pulled with all her might.

Ruby was finally out, dragging the heavy chest with her, Zwei hopping out directly after.

"That's it! You found it, Ruby! Yes!" Cheered Joseph gleefully as he knelt down to help her.

"Oh thank you, Ruby! Thank you!" Said Hanna gratefully.

"No problem," Ruby said as she wiped dirt off her face.

"I can't believe we found it so fast," Said Weiss, amazed as she scooted up next to Ruby.

"All they needed to find it was Zwei." Ruby said with a grin as Zwei hopped into her lap, jumping up and licking Ruby's dirty face.

"The treasure of Gregor Whittington, recovered at last." Said Joseph Whittington, holding back tears before he looked to Team RWBY "I don't know how to thank you girls."

"Yes, our family is in your debt." Hanna added happily.

"Eh, don't worry about it. We save people's lives all the time." Ruby said modestly.

"Though treasure hunting is a new one for us." Remarked Yang with a grin.

"Um, one last problem," Interrupted Franklin, "How do we open it?"

"It's just old wood, Franklin," Dismissed Messick, "We'll get it open...somehow."

"Let me try," Ruby volunteered as Yang returned Crescent Rose back to her.

They took the chest back into the antechamber and gave Ruby a wide berth as she carefully aimed the scythe at the very top of the chest. She swung back and then slammed it forward, slicing the wooden lid of the chest off cleanly, revealing dazzling gold coins with rubies, sapphires, emeralds, gems and diamonds.

The Whittington family cheered, overcome with joy as they dashed over to their long lost treasure.

Ruby smiled, happy for them as she joined her team.

"So, what now?" Wondered Blake, "What do we tell Mr. Takamoto and the citizens of Crystal Cove?"

"I think we can figure something out. Say you girls saved the family and uncovered a treasure. The Whittingtons get to keep the treasure and your reputation as heroes will grow." Messick offered, "You girls okay with that? I mean, you are the heroes of the night."

"Yeah, us and Zwei!" Said Ruby as she held her pet up proudly.

"Way to go little guy!" Said Yang as she petted his head.

"I must admit, you did a good job." Relented Blake, smiling.

"And you were very brave to stand up to Duke when we all thought he was some monster." Weiss added, giving Zwei a little rub on his cheeks.

Duke agreed with a hearty bark as Ruby placed Zwei down, letting him play with the much larger dog.

"You did good Ruby," Said Yang as she reached into one of her pouches on her belt, "Want a Ruby Snack?"

She yanked out a chocolate chip cookie, making Ruby's eyes sparkle with happiness.

"How long have you had that in your pocket?" Weiss asked Yang, confused as the blonde tossed the cookie to Ruby, who captured the snack in her hands and brought it to her mouth, gobbling it up.

* * *

"And that's our story!" Finished Ruby cheerfully, earning applause from the audience.

Team RWBY bowed, soaking up the approval from their fellow Hunters-in-training and members of Team Beacon.

"Well done, Team RWBY! A most amusing tale!" Said Professor Crane, "And I must say I'm flattered that you considered me for assistance when you thought your adventure was turning paranormal."

"Think nothing of it, Professor," Said Weiss, who hadn't told anyone how much it annoyed her to be in that tunnel with Ruby, which was dark enough that she couldn't admire her partner's shapely rear.

Ruby and Yang looked around the crowd, smiling at Penny and the rest of their friends, before Yang noticed Taiyang and Qrow in the back, near the entrance of the library. She pointed them out to Ruby, who waved enthusiastically to her dad and uncle.

After the four girls and Zwei returned to sit with the rest of Team Beacon for another break between stories, Qrow and Taiyang made their way over to them.

"Hi Dad, hi Uncle Qrow!" Said Ruby as she hugged them both, "Did you hear our story?"

"We heard most of it. Me and Qrow joined Port of mischief maker patrol, making sure the more rowdy students don't get up to too much trouble or do any drugs or drinking." Taiyang said as he smiled at his daughters, "I loved it. You girls should be very proud of what you did for the Whittingtons."

"Yeah," Said Qrow, a bit tipsy looking, "You girls always make us proud…"

"He's been drinking hasn't he?" Ruby asked with a sigh.

"Hey, kids get candy, I get booze!" Qrow said, he smiled at their disapproving looks before saying "What? It makes the stories scarier."

"Well, regardless, of your uncle's drunkenness, I think our story went over rather well." Voiced Weiss.

"Yes, it was very fun. Spooky but fun!" Said Penny, before she added "But do you think it's all right for everyone in this room to know about this?"

Team RWBY all looked at each other, amazed they hadn't thought of that.

"Um, I'll talk to Oobleck and Crane," Said Blake, running over to them to make a little announcement about keeping certain details about the end of the story secret, should anyone in the audience wish to share it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Time: The final chapter of this story will be the darkest yet.
> 
> Yes, as you can probably tell I have something of a soft spot for Scooby Doo. God, can you believe it's been around for 50 years? Amazing, but I think it speaks volumes of the charm Scooby Doo has, since it's really the only Hanna-Barbera property still active, while the rest are dormant for the time being.
> 
> Originally when Team RWBY return to Messick's cottage, they'd find his body a soulless husk, and in the end it would turn out to be makeup and a trick he knew to fake being dead. This was to be a reference to the Scooby Doo episode 'The Creepy Heap From the Deep', as it was one of the few that legit terrified me as a child.
> 
> Many of the characters in this story are named after people involved in the Scooby Doo franchise, as I wanted to pay tribute to the people involved.
> 
> Mr. Takamoto is named after Iwao Takamoto, the original character designer for Scooby Doo. The Whittington Family consists of Joseph (after Joseph Barbera), Hanna (after William Hanna and her maiden name is a tribute to Heather North, the second voice of Daphne), Franklin (after voice acting legend Frank Welker who has been involved with the series for 50 years and counting), Indria (named after Indria Stefanianna Christopherson, the original voice of Daphne) and their pet Great Dane is the same species as Scooby, obviously. Old Man Messick is named after the original voice of Scooby, Don Messick, and Ms. Jaffe the maid is named after Nicole Jaffe, the original voice of Velma. Their unseen accomplices who helped them pull their plan off are Stephenson (named after John Stephenson who voiced an insane amount of the popular Scooby villains) and Kasem (named after the original voice of Shaggy, Casey Kasem, who was also quite popular as a radio DJ). The town of Crystal Cove is named after the town from Scooby Doo: Mystery Incorporated.


	3. The Haunting of Luc Arc

**Beware the Autumn People…**

**For some, Autumn comes early, stays late through life.**

**For these beings, Fall is the ever normal season, the only weather, there is no choice beyond.**

**Where do they come from? The Dust.**

**Where do they go? The Grave.**

**Does Blood stir in their veins? No; The Night Wind.**

**What ticks in their head? The Worm.**

**What speaks from their mouth? The Toad.**

**What sees from their eyes? The Snake.**

**What hears between their ears? The Abyss between the stars.**

**They are the Hungry Ones.**

**Our torments call them like dogs in the night.**

**They feed, and feed well. Stuffing themselves on our nightmares.**

**Buttering their plain bread with delicious pain.**

**They can smell young boys ulcerating to be men a thousand miles off and hear middle-aged fools groaning with midnight despairs from halfway around the world.**

**The tasteless fare; funerals, bad marriages, lost loves, lonely beds...that is their diet.**

**They suck that misery and find it sweet.**

**They search for more. Always.**

**They sift the human storm for souls, eat the flesh of reason, fill tombs with sinners.**

**They frenzy forth. In gusts they beetle-scurry, creep, thread, filter, motion, make all moons sullen and surely cloud all clear-run waters.**

**The spider-web hears them...trembles and shakes.**

**Such are the Autumn People.**

**Beware of them.**

**\- Ray Bradbury, 'Something Wicked This Way Comes'**

The soles of shoes and boots slapped against the concrete as the various students left the library of Beacon Academy, some heading to their dorm rooms while others traveled to other parties or gatherings in dorms. The night air was now much chillier than it had been earlier, the wind blew, gusts carrying leaves past the traversing students. The sky was an inky shade of black, but the Shattered Moon still shone down upon Remnant, granting light for those who traveled in the dark.

"Look at the moon!" Said Velvet as she snapped a few pictures of it, "I love how it looks on Fall Equinox."

"They say it gets brighter so the spirits wandering Remnant can find their way, and so we mortals can see what's lurking out there in the dark." Blake told the Rabbit Faunus as Sun placed an arm around her shoulders.

"Perfect moon for making out." He said.

"I'd agree, but we're in front of an audience." The Cat Faunus replied with a blush.

"We don't mind," Yang teased, before she glanced back at Jaune and commented "Can't believe you chickened out of reading whatever is in that diary."

"Well, I talked to Ozpin and Goodwitch about it. Glynda was pretty adamant I hide this book in my family's attic and forget about it, but Ozpin managed to convince her that it would be okay if I told you guys about it, but I'd have to censor it big time for everyone else. I decided it'd be too much trouble to cut it up like that." The blond said, glancing down at the old journal tucked between his arm and hip.

"What's in that book that's so bad?" Sage asked.

"Search me, but it must be pretty bloody grim to freak Professor Goodwitch like that." Remarked Scarlet as he dragged his fake scythe along, tearing up leaves in its wake.

"Yeah...Grimm…" Muttered Jaune.

"You made the right choice," Taiyang told Jaune as he dragged the tipsy Qrow along, "If Ozpin said it was okay to share with your friends, then fine. Personally I think it was foolish to even think about sharing whatever is written in that book if it spooked Glynda like that."

"Can't argue with that." Jaune agreed, glancing down at his shoes as they trampled over leaves.

"Don't feel bad," Pyrrha said, encouragingly as she put her arm around him, "You just wanted to have a good scary story."

"Yeah...I think this one is too scary." Jaune voiced.

"Can't be that bad," Coco commented, she was wearing a fashionable overcoat that went down to her knees to keep herself warm, "Not compared to our little visit to Brunswick Farms or what you guys suffered through in Haven."

"She's probably right, Jaune," Added Velvet as she walked with Yatsuhashi, her towering partner gently holding her hand as they walked together, "After everything you suffered, all those nightmares you've had, could this really be worse?"

Jaune glanced at his fellow team leader and the Faunus before saying "I guess you'll have to see for yourself."

"The way you're building this up, it better be real nightmare fuel." Yang told him, smirking.

"Be careful what you wish for…" Slurred Qrow.

Ruby, Weiss, and Penny walked ahead of the group, the android was looking back at Jaune somewhat nervously.

"Do you really think Jaune's tale of terror will be that horrifying?" She asked.

"One thing you need to learn about the Fall Equinox and its traditions, Penny, is that people are always making things out to be worse than they are," Taught Ruby, "It's one of the reasons 'Trick or Treating' is a thing! Some tricks can be funny, some can be scary, some can be both. When someone tricks someone else, usually by scaring them, it's a treat for them."

"Exactly, and the trick is usually hollow, completely devoid of any real danger." Added Weiss, "Relax Penny, whatever is in that journal, it's probably not as macabre as he's making it out to be."

"Well, you never know," Said Blake from behind them, "Perhaps he does have something truly terrifying in there. We'll have to wait and see."

It wasn't long before Team Beacon, with Taiyang, Qrow and Zwei, arrived at their private dorm room, a few decorations had been put up for the holiday, with strings decorated with paper ghosts, Jack O'Lanterns, black cats, vampire teeth and gravestones hung against the wall and in the air.

"Ah, glorious couch." Said Coco as she stripped off her coat and sat down on the sofa, folding her arms behind her head.

"I'll wait for you guys to get out of your costumes, okay?" Jaune offered.

"Sounds good to me! I need to get these things off of me!" Declared Nora as she tore off the branches and leaves taped to her arms and legs.

"You kids mind if we stay here tonight? I don't want to drag Qrow to the teacher apartments, again." Taiyang asked as Qrow crashed into a recliner chair.

"Yeah, if you don't mind sleeping on couches." Ruby said as she took off her wolf ears.

"Wouldn't be Qrow's first time." Taiyang replied with a smirk.

Some ten minutes later, everyone had changed from their costumes to their sleeping clothes, with some of the boys like Jaune wearing sleeveless shirts to cover up a bit. Team RWBY sat with Penny on the longer sofa, with Zwei on Yang's lap, while Taiyang and most of Team JNPR sitting on the other sofa, with Jaune sitting on the table in the center. Team CFVY sat at the dining table, the chairs all turned to face the center of the commons room, while Team SSSN sat around on the floor.

"Okay," Said Ruby as she placed a lit Jack O'Lantern on the table, placing it near Jaune, "Lights off!"

Sun obliged, his robotic tail, though still something he was trying to get used to, managed to flick the switch downward, darkening the room, leaving the glow of the Jack O'Lantern as the only major lightsource.

Jaune sighed and said, "Okay, so you guys probably remember how my ancestor, Luc Arc, was involved with...well, with Salem and the Guardians of Remnant and the Knights, and how he was practically responsible for Salem becoming the Mistress of Grimm."

"Yeah, we remember Ashe telling us that." Velvet voiced.

"Still have trouble swallowing it," Sage remarked, "I thought it was too hard to believe until Seraph confirmed it. It's just so weird."

Everyone nodded, remembering the strange truth they had learned from both the guerilla Huntsman and the Grand Master of the Remnant Knights.

"Well, the same goes for his team members, Lyman Ozpin, Nuru and Bertilak. They were all involved in taking down the previous Grimm Queen," Jaune told them.

"So Ozpin's ancestor was a friend with your ancestor? Wow, small world." Commented Ruby.

"Seems strange, but that's got nothing on the last entries in this journal." Jaune said.

"What's up with them?" Asked Fox.

Jaune glanced around, taking in the faces of his trusted friends and teammates. Pyrrha, Ren, Nora, Ruby, Neptune and Velvet all gave him encouraging looks, while Yang, Weiss, Coco and Fox all looked somewhat skeptical. Finally, he answered, "Well, my parents found this journal buried in the boxes of our basement, they were searching for anything about Luc Arc's ties to Salem...and they were pretty shocked at what they found. This was Luc Arc's final journal before he died, dated a few hundred years ago, he didn't write a whole lot of entries in here, and the last dozen or so read like he was living in a ghost story."

Qrow sat up and leaned forward, his drunkenness apparently gone. His face was dead serious as he eyed Jaune uneasily, "Go ahead, kid. Tell us."

Outside, the cold wind blew against the windows, the pale moon shined down on the dark night, and Jaune began to tell the tale.

* * *

**The Haunting of Luc Arc**

Last night, I had the strangest and most unsettling dream.

I dreamed I found myself alone in a forest during the winter and once again a Huntsman in his prime. The forest was most unusual, as it was too perfect, almost as if it was something out of an illustration. Many of the trees were the same shape and color, so were the leaves, the colors were muted yet beautiful, highlighted by the brightness of the snow. This gave it an odd sense of security, allowing me to feel young and healthy, not the old relic I am now.

I don't know why, but I ran. I ran for the sake of it I suppose. Maybe I was having a lucid dream and was taking advantage of the freedom the dream realm provides, I can't quite remember the calm of this dream as well as I can the terror.

All of a sudden, I heard a scream. A scream that was all too familiar to me.

Salem.

I suppose I was lucid, as I decided to save her this time. I ran, ran faster than I had in years until I came to the shore of a beautiful lake, like the forest there was something too perfect about it, too blue and clear. But I suppose I paid the oddness of the lake little mind, because I saw her.

She was there, encased in a glass cube and sinking into the indigo pit in the center of the lake.

She was just as beautiful as I remember. The perfect pale shade of blonde hair, dazzling blue eyes, fair skin. Rest the soul of my dear Lorna, but seeing my Maiden again was just too much.

She screamed, banging on the glass, looking at me with begging eyes and muffled pleas to save her.

I felt as though I couldn't fail her. I couldn't abandon her.

Not again.

Throwing all caution to the wind, I ran towards her as fast as I could. I was desperate to save her, to redeem myself to her or perhaps in my own eyes.

To be entirely truthful, I've never forgiven myself for what I did. For how I deceived her.

I thundered into the lake, descending into water that was as cold as the Atlesian Sea. It wasn't like a usual dream, I could feel the cold, feel my the water seeping through my clothes and splashing against my skin. Something like this would usually shock me awake, or maybe I wouldn't feel it...but I felt it.

And yet I kept moving closer, swimming towards her as she banged her fists against the thick glass that entrapped her. Water began pouring into the glass rapidly, threatening to drown her as tears flowed freely from her eyes. Seeing her cry brought out tears of my own, I felt emotional pain swallow my soul, my guilt and shame tormenting me.

I had to save Salem.

I managed to reach her as the cube sank further down, now I could only see her from her stomach up. I called her name, screaming it as I smashed my body against the glass. The glass didn't even crack. I reached for my sword, but found nothing at my side, I had nothing but my own power to shatter my Maiden's glass prison.

I kept shouting her name as I slammed my fists against the glass, failing to do any damage at all as the cube sank faster and faster. I grabbed hold of the sides of the cube, shouting at her as I tried to shatter the glass with kicks, but my efforts were fruitless.

I pressed my body against the glass, as my Maiden became more and more submerged in the water, her chest vanished beneath the surface as her hair began to float.

We faced one another, our eyes meeting as she pressed her hands against the glass. I pressed my head and my own hands against the cold surface of glass, my tears flowing freely as I began apologizing profusely, begging her for forgiveness.

I blinked, and then I saw she was smiling.

Not a smile of kindness or one of forgiveness, but one that had something subtly sinister about it. She seemed disturbingly calm as the water claimed her chin, as if she was completely in control.

She began to turn white, not simply pale as if she was sick, her skin and hair were becoming as white as snow, and her veins were turning black.

The water rose faster, and soon her mouth and nose were submerged. She closed her eyes and opened them to show that those once beautiful eyes were now shining scarlet.

Before I could even question what was happening, she allowed herself to sink into the water, just as the cube abruptly plunged down, the force creating a wave that pushed me away. I tried to swim against it, I tried to duck under the water, but the wave was too powerful and I couldn't control myself as I felt my body collide with the shore.

Confused, shocked, and tired, I dragged my body up the slope of the shore, over the sand and onto the grass. I felt my youth drain away, my body and spirit age horribly, transforming me into the old man I am now.

I couldn't do anything. I was too tired, too weak, too cold and too frightened to move. My shame and guilt returned, my heart ached as I looked out to the water, knowing I had failed her again.

I allowed myself to lie down on the grass, staring up at the moon high in the sky, its light offering no comfort. I closed my eyes, begging for forgiveness. If not from my Maiden, then from myself.

I doubt I ever can.

I opened my eyes and looked to my left, and saw them.

The Grimm.

I jolted up, trying to scramble away before my back smacked into the fist of a Beringel. I stood up, turning around to see I was completely surrounded by various species of Grimm, their red eyes glowing brightly in the darkness.

I braced myself for an attack, but none came.

This baffled me, I was filled with sorrow, self-loathing, guilt, even a bit of fear. That should have been enough to send the beasts into a frenzy and tear me to shreds, but nothing happened.

They just stood there, staring at me. The moonlight allowed me to get a decent look at their black fur, their armor of bone, their eyes that were as red as my Maiden's…

Dozens of pairs of red eyes kept looking at me.

Glaring at me.

Judging me.

Knowing what I had done.

All of a sudden, I heard whispers. Whispers loud enough for me to hear, yet so low I couldn't understand what was being said. However, the voice was unmistakably female, a disturbingly familiar one, at that.

And then the sky began to darken. I looked up to the moon, and to my amazement, I could see black streams pouring across the moon, it looked like some giant invisible brush was streaking black pain across the moon, slowly putting out the only light I had.

Drops of darkness fell into the lake, creating large splashes in the water as the blackness began to spread throughout the water, as it oil had burst from the bottom.

And from the spot where the drops hit the surface, she rose.

Skin and hair white as snow, veins black as night, eyes red as blood.

Her smile, once something so beautiful it made my heart flutter, was no longer a smile of kindness, bravery and beauty. Now it was twisted to a smile of cruelty, expressing sadistic joy.

The whispers grew louder…

"I will take you places you have not been to in years. I will show you things you have never seen. I will teach you things you have never known. I will take the people you care about and twist them into a reflection of darkness." The Whispers said as my Maiden walked out of the lake, the Grimm parting for her.

"And I will watch you die." Salem told me, that smile of grim satisfaction still on her face.

She reached out to me, and that's when I jolted awake. Alone in my room.

I was shaking for ten minutes after I woke up, not only from the cold of the winter we're having right now, but from pure terror. I've never had a dream like that and I don't want to dream anything like it again!

Well, I suppose it's fortieth anniversary of that horrible day. The day she and her fellow Maidens gave their lives to destroy the Mistress of Grimm. The day she died because I fooled her into thinking they would survive the attack.

Tonight's my weekly meeting with my old team. I can't keep this to myself, I need to talk about it.

It was just a dream.

But something tells me that if I don't talk about it, I'll suffer through it again.

* * *

Tonight did not go as planned.

Even after that terrible dream, I couldn't have anticipated the horrible news I received tonight.

I arrived at the home of Lyman Ozpin, the old manor looked as regal yet gloomy as ever. I got out of my car and walked through the cold night, only hints of twilight in the distance, being careful to not step on any ice.

I declined his butler's offer for help and made my way up the wooden steps and onto the porch, going into the house to remove my coat and scarf. Emily was in the living room, watching television, but still took note of me and offered a kind smile.

It never ceases to amaze me that a kind soul like Emily could put up with a gloomy, bitter old pill like Lyman Ozpin. Perhaps that's why they worked out, she's a naturally happy person while Lyman, even in our youth, tended to be cynical. He had lightened up a bit when his children were around, but when young Ozma came of age and left to begin his own life, Lyman's personality seemed to revert back to the negative thinker we all knew and tolerated.

We traded a few words, polite greetings, before she told me that the third member of Team ABON had already arrived and was in Lyman's study with him. She voiced her concern for Nuru and I could only agree, he hadn't been the same since Angela's passing. Once bright and cheerful, always able to look on the bright side of life, the complete opposite of his partner. He and Lyman used to drive each other crazy when we were young Hunters-in-training at Beacon, but they managed to keep each other sane, in a way.

I walked down the hallways, the old paintings and portraits very much the same as they had been some decades prior. I saw the open doorway of Lyman's study, seeing the old goat sitting behind his desk, his white beard was immaculately kempt and his old green eyes made him appear to be some sort of wizard who chose to live a normal life. He nodded to greet me, denying a smile as he often did.

"Well, it's about time. The way you talked over the phone, I expected you to be here sooner." He remarked as I came in, closing the door behind me.

"The snow is awful out there, and I have no desire to get myself killed in an accident." I answered as I glanced over to see Nuru sitting on a sofa against the wall.

If anyone had told me a year ago that Nuru was capable of looking so miserable, I'd have labeled them a liar. Now, however, I look at my old friend and see a depressed, lonely old man with sad eyes. Angela, his devoted wife, had passed away of complications with breast cancer a month ago. He had known her ever since they were children, practically promised his heart to her when he was a boy of twelve, so losing her was quite a blow to him. Thankfully, their daughter Jacqueline and her family moved in for the time being to take care of him to be sure he could recover from the devastating loss. His hair had gone grayer and his brown skin had become more whitered in appearance, he obviously wasn't taking the loss well in the slightest.

"Hey, Nuru," I said, "How are you holding up?"

He gave me an obviously forced smile and answered "Oh, you know. Same old, same old."

Poor fellow.

We chatted for a bit before we held our 'wake' for my partner. I have not yet written about Bertilak's disappearance in this particular journal, so for whomever reads this, if anyone cares to read the ramblings of an old codger, allow me to explain.

Bertilak was my partner at Beacon Academy, a brave and valiant warrior. A charming man, always ready for battle with his lance and an equally sharp wit, to assure civilians they had nothing to worry about as long as he was around. And that horse of his, Magnus, a noble steed if there ever was one, with a coat of fur the color of a wheat field. Whenever we had a mission where he could take the animal, he would bring it and ride it into battle whenever he could, the fact it could stomp a Beowolf's head in with those horseshoes of steel didn't hurt either.

About fifteen years ago, Bertilak, too stubborn and prideful to retire like the rest of us, accepted a job in Mistral. He completed his job, confirmed by the village magistrate who hired him, but utterly vanished after leaving the town. He never arrived at the port to get on the boat home, no inn or farm in the area reported him arriving for shelter, nothing. The three of us traveled to Mistral to lead the search parties, but we failed to find anything of either the horse or the rider. It was as if they had been removed from this planet by some powerful being with a snap of its fingers.

At each weekly meeting, we take a moment of silence to remember and honor our seemingly fallen comrade, wherever he may be.

After the silence, we talked a bit about Ozma, Lyman's youngest son. Apparently the life of a Huntsman wasn't agreeing with him, so he was simply taking up the job of a teacher's assistant at Beacon, something Lyman wasn't exactly proud of, though Nuru and I saw no harm in it. I told them about how my kids were getting along in their own lives and how they were doing as parents. I told them about Robin's declaration to grow up to be just like his grandpa. We talked about Nuru's current situation, how his grandchildren were doing, how he was handling waking up in bed without his wife next to him.

I know his suffering well, it took me months to truly come to terms with Lorna's passing. Damn pneumonia.

After prevaricating for a while, avoiding the odd looks Lyman was giving me, I came clean to them about the nightmare I had suffered, describing it as best I could. My recollection of this disturbing dream was unusually vivid, since I almost always have trouble remembering so many specific details about dreams, but this is one I'm afraid I'll never forget.

I finished telling them, and their faces were so stricken with fear and surprise, pale and sweating…

Then Nuru blurted out something that took us by surprise.

"So I'm not the only one having nightmares."

Lyman and I looked at him, taken aback by what he just said.

"You mean, you had a dream like that?" I asked.

"Gods no! Not like that...something else," He said, before proceeding to tell us his own horrific vision, "I dreamt I was...back at the old base, in the Tihuta Pass of the Mistral mountain range. I was standing right outside the abandoned base, but I could hear someone beckoning me to come inside. I didn't want to, in fact my gut and my brain were both telling me to get out of there, but I felt compelled to follow the voice inside of the base. I went inside the shadows of the wide open main doors, and found that inside the whole place was ablaze, yet the fire wasn't hot or damaging anything, as though there was only the image of fire, not the real thing. I followed the sound of the voice up the stairs, ignoring the ghostly fire as this horrible rumbling sound began, like a building was collapsing.

"As I went further into the base, the noises grew worse and the voice became this terrible, pitiful moaning. I reached the third floor when the stairs behind me collapsed, but bizarrely, I didn't seem to mind, as I resigned myself to die there. Then...oh Oum and the Four Gods, then I saw her."

"Who?" Lyman asked, not realizing he was gripping his drinking glass quite tightly.

Nuru answered him, "Angela. I saw her run from one doorway to the next. I rushed after her, calling her name. I ran into the room she vanished into, and instead I fell into...somewhere else. A different place, a horribly icy ruin, with dead, frozen bodies lying everywhere. I...I recognized them...the Maidens."

He stopped and took a drink of water, his hands shaking as sweat covered his face.

"Stop. You're upsetting yourself," Lyman said, a bit harsher that he meant I'm sure.

But Nuru wouldn't listen to his old partner, "No...no, I must talk about it."

"No more!" Lyman barked, "Not now."

"Yes," I said firmly, "Now."

Lyman sighed, irritated, "I don't want to hear…"

Nuru suddenly sobbed out a desperate, scared sounding "Please let me talk about it! Listen to me! Please!"

Silence descended upon us as we let the poor man cry. Once he recovered, I gently told him, "Go on, old friend. What happened next?"

"Voices, whispers like the ones you heard. They told me, 'None of you have ever been forgiven.' I then saw her, Angela, lying face down in the snow and ice...I fell to my knees and pulled her around, finding her beautiful face frozen with ice. I...I placed my hands on her cheek, and then her face shattered like the most bitter glass, revealing this horribly, bloody mess beneath. And then the screaming started, all the frozen corpses began screaming and then Angela's arms shot up, her hands wrapping around my throat as tight as a vice! And then Jacqueline woke me, saving me from that terrible nightmare."

He began to pant, as if reliving the horror he had experienced in his sleep. I couldn't stand to see my old teammate like this, so I quickly moved over to sit next to him, and placed a firm hand around his shoulders, pulling him close to comfort him.

Lyman hung his head shamefully, standing up and offering an apology to Nuru for his harshness.

As Nuru began to calm down, I looked to Lyman and observed his nervous face, the subtle shivering of his body as his hands clenched. "You had a nightmare too, didn't you?" I asked him.

He was silent for a moment or two before answering "No, I didn't."

It was obvious to me that he was holding something back, I don't know what, but I've known him long enough to tell when he's lying.

"It's approaching the fortieth anniversary of that day. I suppose after all these years of guilt on our part is playing on our minds," Lyman speculated, and then a gentle knock came at the door, and Lyman permitted whoever was outside the door to come in. The door opened, revealing Emily and a police officer standing behind her.

"Is everything all right? I heard Nuru crying." She voiced, concerned.

"I'm fine," Insisted Nuru, "Just...just recalling a bad dream I had about Angela. Who's that behind you?"

"I'm Captain Zhang of the Valean Police, I was told by his housekeeper, Foley, that Luc Arc was here." The man said.

"I'm Luc Arc," I said, "Is something wrong, Captain?"

"Yes, I understand that Cha Yi was once your apprentice?" He said.

I nodded, remembering the final apprentice I took under my wing before I retired, he was a headstrong but bright young man who was seeking to be a Huntsman without the 'bother' of the Academies' rules and regulations. The last I heard from him, he was in Mistral, patrolling for Grimm around the Mistral mountains.

"Yes, Yi was my student. Oh Oum, has something happened? Did he fall fighting Grimm?" I asked, fearful for my old student's life.

"Not...exactly, Mr. Arc. Are any of you aware of a man known as Anton Vesalius?" Zhang inquired, his tone uneasy.

We looked at each other, we all remembered Vesalius though none of us ever knew him that well. He was a courier for the Guardians of Remnant when we were young.

"Yes, though not personally. What does Yi have to do with Vesalius?" I inquired.

Zhang sighed and revealed to us the grim purpose for his visit, "At exactly 10:30 AM, Valean time and midnight Mistral time, Chan Yi wandered into the Mistral village of Volosa, covered in blood,"

"Oh gods, what happened to him?" I asked, horrified.

"The blood wasn't his, Mr. Arc. He came into the town out of the snow, wandered to the local bar and told everyone there that the first part of his task was completed. The local police apprehended him and made sure he wasn't injured, they asked him what happened and he said to check out the Vesalius farm before he tried to take a bite out of one of the arresting officers. When they got to the farm it was...like something out of a nightmare." Zhang said, unsettled by what he had to tell me.

"A-are you telling me my old apprentice has gone mad?" I asked, shocked.

"I'm afraid so, Mr. Arc, and went on a killing spree. There were no survivors at the Vesalius farm.

I don't think I can describe it properly sir, but he refuses to speak to anyone but you, so the Mistrialian police would like you to come see, help them understand what happened and why. We've already arranged for a flight to take you there tomorrow morning." Zhang explained.

I instantly agreed, telling Zhang I would come to the airport to fly to Mistral as early as I could. After he left, the three of us exchanged looks of shock. All of us, especially myself, knew Chan Yi to be an upstanding, if somewhat hard-headed man who sought to protect those who were helpless against the Grimm. The idea of him murdering an entire family was utterly unbelievable, and yet it had apparently happened, no matter how much I didn't want to believe it.

Nuru had a strange feeling and said "Vesalius...he was the courier who introduced us to the Maidens, didn't he? Wh-where is Volosa, exactly?"

Both myself and Lyman looked at him uneasily, before Lyman stood up and walked over to his bookshelf, taking out a large atlas and placing it on his desk. He opened it and flipped through the Mistral section before he finally found it, a grim look on his face.

"It's a small town on the north end of the Mistral Mountain Range, twenty-five miles away from the mountains to be exact...and several miles later, lies Tihuta Base." Lyman revealed, his throat sounding dry.

"Dear Oum…" I said as I sat down in a chair, the possible meanings behind this terrified me.

"Something's happening," Declared Nuru, "I dream about Tihuta Base and the Maidens, Luc dreams about Salem… Don't you see? Something's happening, something awful."

"It's probably just dreams," Lyman refuted, "Dreams are funny, we still don't fully understand them. Perhaps they're just nightmares and it's merely a coincidence this horrible tragedy happened at the same time."

"Let's hope so," I said as I stood back up. I excused myself, taking my leave for home to try and understand what I had been told tonight, and try to get some rest for the flight.

I am currently sitting in the passenger section of a small aircraft that in en route to the airbase in Mistral nearest to Volosa. I have no idea what awaits me, but every ounce of my being dreads it.

* * *

I don't know if I can write this down properly.

It's all so horrible.

I arrived at the airport was greeted by Inspector Kitaj of the Mistrialan Police Force, who was in charge of this case. He was dark-skinned and middle-aged, he seemed uneasy about the whole thing, not that I can blame him, but he greeted me politely enough.

"Well, you were Chan's master?" He asked.

"I was, I'm afraid. Do you have any idea what could have led to this? Is it possible he's being blamed for someone else's crime?" I asked, hopefully.

"Not a chance, Mr. Arc. His fingerprints are all over the crime scene and he gave a full confession." Kitaj explained, "Shall we go see him?"

"No," I declined, "I want to see the crime scene. I need to see what my apprentice has done, or claims to have done."

He gave me an uncertain look before nodding reluctantly, "I suppose it would be all right...if you can handle it."

A gave him a look of annoyance and responded "My good man, I am Luc Arc, I have faced legions of Grimm and have seen their carnage upon our kind first hand. I have battled evil forces you are better off remaining ignorant about. Whatever gory scene awaits me, I can handle it."

He shook his head before answering "Suit yourself, but don't say I didn't warn you."

We traveled to the farm in his police car. I wish I could say I at least enjoyed the beautiful winter landscape Mistral has to offer, with white fields, picturesque mountains and frozen lakes and creeks, but the dreadful thoughts plaguing my mind prevented me from enjoying any of the sights.

"How many are dead?"

"Old Man Vesalius and his wife, their son and his wife and their three children, and the two Faunus servants." He answered me.

"Gods... Has this been made public yet?" I asked.

"Not yet, we've managed to keep it away from the press and locals who know about it promised to keep it quiet for the time being, but it's only a matter of time before the media turns this into a circus." Kitaj answered, his distaste for opportunistic journalists obvious.

"Well, thankfully we'll understand this better by the time they get a hold of it." I commented.

"It's a miracle they don't know already, considering that the crazy bastard didn't even spare the livestock! Brains and guts and Oum knows what strewn about the fields...I tell you, Mr. Arc, I've seen some gruesome things in my time, but never anything like this." Kitaj proclaimed as I shuddered and hoped he was exaggerating.

He wasn't.

Slaughtered cows, bulls, pigs, goats, sheep and chickens were all over the fields surrounding the farm, gored and gutted and beheaded. It's a good thing I have a strong stomach and have seen atrocities like this in the past, a weaker willed man would have vomited on the spot. Police were on guard everywhere while photographers documented the carnage.

I covered my mouth as Kitaj hung his head, "It only gets worse inside the house, Mr. Arc. Are you sure about this?"

I nodded, telling him "I have to see what he did. I trained him, so a small part of me feels feels responsible for this."

He led me into the house, the door was wide open and there was a long gash across the surface. I walked into the entry hall, seeing blood splattered over the floor and leading to the middle-aged male Dog Faunus who worked as a farmhand for the family, a large, gaping hole in his chest from what appeared to be a nasty shotgun wound. I forced myself to look, seeing through the hole and out his back, glimpsing at bits of bone and muscle.

"Where's...where's Vesalius himself?" I asked, shaken by the sight.

"In the den...I don't thin-"

I cut Kitaj off and ordered him to show me everything. He reluctantly obliged.

Anton Vesalius was indeed in the den, tied down to a chair with a catheter inserted into his wrists. His body was bone dry, he had been completely exsanguinated. His blood had spilled all over the den, pooling everywhere. To make the scene worse, Vaselius' grandson, a boy of nine years, had his head slammed through the television, his hair singed by the sparks, his body scraped and bleeding from the shards from the ruined screen.

Vesalius' wife was in the kitchen, mostly anyway, it was half smashed through the window. Going out the back door to look at her face, I saw she had been slashed across the face several times with a nasty blade, and the bruises on her face made it clear that Yi had slammed her head into the wall or cabinets a few times, and then there was an awful, frozen river of blood pouring down from where she had been impaled by the jagged shards of glass from the broken window, before being finished off with the blade being slammed through the side of her neck, going right through.

The children's father, Vaselius' son, had his head slammed repeatedly into the columns of the staircase bannister, and then he was finished off by having the arms of the grandfather clock stabbed directly into his eyes.

Upstairs, the mother of the children was impaled by a shovel, slammed directly into the valley of her breasts, going through her body to sever her spinal column as it erupted out of her back before stabbing into the wall.

Considering what was ahead of me, Kitaj advised me that their bathroom had not been involved in the massacre, and free should I need to empty the contents of my stomach.

In the children's room...that was where the final three corpses were. That was where these horrible sights took their toll on me. The serving girl, a Cow Faunus, had been stabbed in the stomach and looked to have had a chunk of her neck bitten into. From what the detectives could tell, she had made a last stand to protect the remaining children, but was no match for my mad former student. Poor creature.

The granddaughter's neck had been snapped as she tried to save her baby brother, she had only been six years old. Too young to her have her aura unlocked, she died quickly. And the infant...well, the butcher's knife sticking out of the crib, splattered with blood, was enough to summon the bile from my guts, and I ran out of the room and threw up in the toilet.

I had seen enough.

I stumbled out of the bathroom, Kitaj watching me with concern. "Are you okay?"

"No...not really," I answered before demanding "Where is Yi? Where are you holding him?"

"In the solitary confinement room of the local police station, under heavy surveillance." He told me.

"Take me to him. I need to see him. I need to understand what turned him into a monster capable of this...evil." I said, carefully heading down the stairs.

We got into his care and drove back to town, and on the way I asked him some more questions, "I understand he refuses to speak to anyone but me, correct?"

"Right, it took everything from our more restrained officers to keep the others from beating it out of him. He's said nothing other than confessing to the deed as well as wanting to speak to you," Kitaj told me as we drove towards the town. "But...we do know that he was a Huntsman patrolling this land for Grimm. Last he reported in was about a week ago, he said he was going up to the mountains as part of his patrol. Then we had a bad snowstorm, so he was trapped up there. That was the last we heard of him before last night."

"A week? Are you telling me he was trapped up there seven days?" I asked, surprised.

"I am. Probably drove him insane." Kitaj remarked.

"No, I don't think so. I trained Yi to survive off the land, to hunt deer and to tell which plants were safe to eat. I taught him how to make shelter and how to keep a fire going in the worst cold, he should have been able to handle it. Besides, seven days in the wilderness isn't enough to make a man so mad he'd do...that." I refuted.

"Well, something happened to him." Kitaj commented as we entered the gates of the Volosa.

"I'll get to the bottom of this, I swear it." I promised as we drove closer to the police station.

We entered the station, police officers standing on guard outside to keep the civilians at bay. I walked inside, the sheriff, a hardened-looking man named Hagan.

"You Arc?" He asked.

"Yes, Sheriff, I am. Inspector Kitaj has explained the situation to me and I have been to the scene of the crime. Would it be all right if I speak to him?"

"You must," He told me, "If we're ever going to understand what happened to the crazy bastard, you need to talk to him. Something tells me he'd rather die than speak to any of us. We'll take him to the observation room where you may talk."

I nodded and followed Kitaj down the hall until we came to a door leading to the observation room, where Kitaj let me inside, telling me they'd be watching from behind the mirror.

A few minutes later, Hagan and some guards dragged Chan Yi in, and he truly looked awful. He was confined in a straight-jacket, his eyes were bloodshot and had heavy bags under them, his hair was ratty and oily, small scratches caked with dried blood decorated his face and his nose was covered by medical gauze taped to his face, signifying his nose had been broken, though I'm not sure if it was by a furious police officer or if he got it in the slaughter.

They tied him to the chair, as he watched me with terrible eyes, rich with insanity. Those eyes never left me, he was watching me obsessively. Yi's eyes...they were like cold eyes in a shining through a fire. Like how an animals' eyes will reflect a campfire at night. They might know what a fire is, but they have no idea how it's made, but creatures intelligent enough will know to get close enough for warmth, but not so close to be burnt. But there are some who cannot resist the flame, foolish things that believe they're immune to the fire, they're bigger than it...and before long they're dancing in the middle of the fire, until there's nothing left of them but those cold, shining eyes that melt into the hot flame. I remember that little anecdote from one of my old teachers, she said that such a thing is the fate of those who try to control the Grimm or think themselves beyond the control of Gods and nature...Maybe that's what happened to the original Mistress of Grimm...

Hagan came over to me and asked "You want us to stay?"

"No," I declined, "I think he'll be more forward if we're alone together. Just make sure he's properly restrained."

"Don't worry, he's not going anywhere." Hagan said confidently as his men fastened chains around Yi's hands and feet, binding him to the chair.

They exited the room, leaving me with the man who had once been my trusted apprentice. Alone so I could understand what he had become.

"Yi…" I began, only to be cut off by the murderer.

"Hello, Master Luc. How have you been?" He asked, his voice sounded demented.

"I'm...I've been much better, and so have you, Yi. I saw your...handiwork." I told him.

"Ah, yes. The first part of my work. Talking to you is another part of my mission." He said.

"Mission? What mission?" I asked.

"The mission...she gave me." He answered.

I looked at him questioningly, "Who is 'she'?"

"You know her," He said mysteriously, "I was patrolling the woods for any Grimm, I found a few Beowolves and chased them deeper into the forest and up the mountain. After I wiped them out, I felt something calling to me, a strange, haunting, beautiful presence. The snowstorm began unnaturally fast, the temperature dropped rapidly, the wind howled, and snow fell harder than I have ever known it to. I didn't know what to do, so I wandered, hoping to find a cave or a spot where I could set up camp, and then I saw it...Tihuta Base."

A chill went up my spine as he mentioned the same place that had been in Nuru's nightmare.

"I took shelter in that old, abandoned base...only it wasn't abandoned at all." He recounted.

"Who was there? This mysterious woman you mentioned?" I interrogated.

"Yes. You know her." He replied, giving me this look, as if he knew something I didn't want him to, "She took me in, saved me from the freezing cold and fed me, and taught me such things, showed me such sights… Tell me, my old master, have you been having nightmares?"

I remained silent for a moment before answering him with an uneasy "No."

He smirked at me and remarked, "You never were very good at lying. I could always tell when you had something up your sleeve. You saw her in your nightmare, didn't you?"

Now I was well and truly disturbed.

"She's dead."

"In a manner of speaking, I suppose she is, yet she is not." He returned.

I shot him a quizzical look before asking, "Now what the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"You'll find out in due time," He stated before smiling gently and adding "None of you have ever been forgiven, you know."

Goosebumps covered my skin and my blood ran cold as he said the exact same thing Nuru had heard in his dream.

"W-wh-what did you just say?" I stammered out.

He looked at me with a malicious grin before saying "You heard."

I decided, trying to talk about his crime. "What about the people you've murdered? The lives you've taken? The children dead at your hands! What could any of them have possibly done to deserve anything like that?!" I demanded to know, my fist clenching tighter than it had in years as I stepped closer to him.

"Vesalius introduced your team to her and her sisters. He, however unintentionally, set her suffering in motion. He and his family were among the first to suffer her wrath, and none of them deserved to be spared."

I couldn't take it anymore, I struck him with a backhanded fist.

He looked back up at me, ignoring whatever pain he felt.

"Those murders were just another step in a very special little game for her. You know, the nightmare was only the beginning, my old teacher. You're going to be seeing some very strange things, frightening things," His voice became darker, more demented, "Soon enough you'll truly reap what you sow! You won't know up from down, left from right, right from wrong, life from death!"

"That's enough!" I snapped, before turning to the mirror and saying "I'd like to leave now."

"You can't escape her. You can't escape what's coming." Yi told me as they unlocked the door and let me out.

I spoke to Hagan and Kitaj, who were very interested in the bizarre things Yi had told me.

"Do you have any idea what he was talking about?" Hagan asked.

"I was stationed here nearly forty years ago for a campaign against a very dangerous person, someone the governments of the Kingdoms wouldn't approve of me telling you about. It was here that I became involved with...with a beautiful woman. She died in the battle." I explained.

"So, what are we dealing with?" Kitaj wondered, "Did her ghost possess him and drive him insane?"

"Don't joke," Hagan scolded before turning to me and asking "Did he know about this before?"

"No, I never told him about her. Maybe he read my journals while I wasn't looking at some point. Maybe... maybe he was always this insane and hid it until now." I said, knowing it was an incredibly weak answer.

"He managed to hide his insanity and murderous urges for years? That's the only thing stupider than a ghost!" Hagan said before asking me "What exactly was your relationship to Vesalius?"

"I didn't know him personally, he only introduced me to this woman, and her teammates." I answered, half-truthfully, "He used to be a courier for some high up figures in this Kingdom before he took up the family farm. That's all I know, he was pleasant enough but we weren't exactly friends."

"According to his file, his Semblance is an aura-fueled adrenaline, which fuels him during battle. But he mentioned your nightmares, and you were clearly startled at the mention. Anything to that?" Kitaj inquired.

"No, I think he was just trying to disturb me. There was a period during his training when I suffered from horrible nightmares after my youngest daughter was nearly killed in a road accident. I managed to save her, but the thought of losing her still horrifies me." I fibbed, hoping they would fall for my lie.

If they thought I was lying, they did not make anything of it.

"Still," I began as I walked towards the doors of the station, "I'd send some men up to search that abandoned base. Just to be sure no one is up there."

"I'll be leading the scouting party myself." Hagan said, "Do you have anything else for us?"

I sighed and said, "I'm afraid not. What will you do with him?"

"We'll hold him here for the next few days, under heavy guard and then put him on trial. He'll either get life or face the death penalty. I hope it's the latter." Hagan told me before offering his hand, "Thanks for your help."

I shook his hand before leaving with Kitaj, who took me back to the small airport, where I am currently writing down the major details I can recall.

What is going on?

* * *

It keeps getting worse.

I returned home and retired to bed, tired from my long journey and the horrible things I saw. Surprisingly, I slept quite peacefully, with no nightmares disturbing my sleep, even slept in for some hours due to how tired I had been. Once I came downstairs for breakfast, Miss Foley. She was usually quite chipper, but today she was dour.

I asked her why hadn't she woken me up, and she said that I had to regain my energy, and be prepared for bad news she had for me.

Nuru is dead.

She told me about the police wanted Lyman and myself to come talk to them about what happened. Apparently his death was quite odd. I thanked her before having a quick breakfast and then retreating back upstairs to get dressed, and then I went to my car and drove to the Valean Police Headquarters as quickly as I could.

I saw Lyman waiting for me impatiently inside the doors of the headquarters, I prepared myself for a tongue-lashing from my only remaining teammate.

"I'm sorry, I was very tired from my trip the other day, I have no excuse but that." I told him.

"I'm just happy you're here." He said quietly, "What do you know?"

"Not much, other than Nuru is gone. What have you been told?" I asked him.

"What I do know is strange and unsettling. Jacqueline identified the body, poor girl, she was beside herself with grief, her husband had to take her home." Lyman told me, gesturing for me to follow him inside, "You can tell me what happened to your apprentice once this is over."

We went inside, greeted by Captain Zhang, who held a file in his hands, "I'm sorry we had to meet again under such terrible circumstances."

"So am I, captain. I just returned from Mistral only to find another tragedy. Do you have any idea what happened?" I asked him as he led us deep into the building, doing our best to ignore a Faunus ruffian being led to a cell by some officers.

"We're beginning to, we just got the footage from the CCT system half an hour ago. We're going to go over it now, if you'd like to join us." He replied.

"Well obviously we would! We're here, aren't we?" Lyman barked.

"Typical Lyman Ozpin." I muttered, ignoring his glare, "How did it happen?"

"He climbed onto the platform of one of the towers of the bay bridge. He fell over the railing and crashed upon a car. Killed instantly by the impact." Zhang explained as he handed Lyman the file. He opened it, revealing the picture of poor Nuru's body, having smashed into the roof of the car, a look of absolute fear upon his face, "The driver's in the hospital, they expect him to recover."

"What was he doing up there?" Lyman asked.

"That's what we'll try to find out. Follow me." Zhang instructed as he led the way.

We came to a very large technology room, smelling of metal, wires and electricity, with tables covered with monitors while humming computer banks lined the walls.

Zhang led us over to a corner, where paused footage of a car I recognized was Nuru's.

"His daughter told us he was acting like he was having a nightmare, said he was fearfully mumbling the name of his dead wife." Zhang told us.

"Angela." I clarified, "Nuru hasn't taken her passing very well."

"It seems to have taken a worse toll than you realized. She said when he got up, he behaved as though he was in a trance, wandering towards his garage with cloudy eyes. No matter what she did to stop him, he went on, getting into his car and driving off into the roads. We got footage of him driving. Roll it," Zhang instructed to the technician at the monitor station.

With a press of a button, the grainy footage played on the screen, showing Nuru's old car cruising down the road, but the way the care moved came off as purposeful, not random and directionless as if being driven by a confused old man. The screen changed, showing another angle, where we could see him roll the window down and lean towards it.

"He's not driving very fast." I commented as Lyman leaned as close as he could.

"I think he's opening his mouth." He said as we saw Nuru drive past some snow shovelers.

"Yes, we questioned those shovelers, they said he was shouting for Angela." Zhang confirmed with a sympathetic voice.

My heart ached for my old friend, I thought for a brief moment that he his nightmare, combined with his grief, had driven him over the edge.

We watched as the various cameras tracked Nuru's journey to his head, until he arrived at the bay bridge. We saw him pull over, his tires mounting the sidewalk as he shut off his vehicle and threw the door open.

"We have audio here." The technician told us as he flipped a switch.

Nuru wandered down the sidewalk, the wind tearing at his coat. We heard him calling out _"Angela! Angela come back!"_

They say that when you die, you will search for your soulmate. I thought that's what was happening, but no. No, what I saw wasn't something natural at all.

"Wait, what's that?" Asked Lyman, pointing at the screen. We could just barely make out a black shape moving ahead of Nuru.

"Don't know, maybe some weirdo out for a stroll." The technician suggested as we continued to watch Nuru struggle through the snow, still calling for Angela.

It pained me horribly to hear him call for her, _"Angela! Please wait! Don't leave me!"_

We watched from a different angle as he approached a ladder that led to one of the levels above on the towers of the bridge. He looked up the ladder, uneasy and looking back, before he shakily grabbed the ladder and began to ascend.

"What was he thinking?" Lyman wondered aloud as we observed Nuru climbing up, his feet slipping a few times but his hands kept a firm grip. We could see another person coming up from below, a patrolman in winter gear, slowly climbing up after Nuru and calling to him.

"_Sir! Do not go up any further! It's too dangerous! Please come down!" _The patrolman called, only to be ignored. He tried to climb up, only to slip off and several feet down, landing roughly on his rear.

The camera changed angles to one that looked down on the platform of the tower, just as Nuru made it to the top. He leaned against the wall, panting and taking in deep breaths of air. From another camera, one behind Nuru, we saw the shape moving, just barely out of view.

Then, Nuru perked up, as if he had heard something. _"Who's there?!" _He called, carefully stepping further down the platform.

"What the hell?" Whispered Zhang, surprised.

"Equipment on that bridge isn't meant for high level surveillance, but if he could hear something through all that wind, then the equipment should have picked it up." The technician told us.

I nodded, but I was too busy watching, bracing myself to witness my old friend's death.

On the camera, we watched as Nuru stopped in his tracks, just as we could hear the patrolman calling after him from nearby, presumably coming up after him.

Then we saw Nuru freeze and stiffen up, as if something had tapped him on the shoulder from behind. We watched as he slowly turned around…

And what we saw will haunt all four of us to our dying days.

There was this...apparition standing right behind him, almost emerging from the steel of the bridge tower. It took the form of a naked woman, with slightly rotting skin covering her stomach, breasts and arms, with hands that ended in sharp nails. Her hair was ratty, dirty and soaking wet, but her face...

Her face was horrible. Her mouth was side open, showing off decayed, black teeth, and that

was the only thing on an otherwise blank canvas of a face, with no eyes, nose or eyebrows.

With a scream of terror, Nuru flung himself backwards to try and get away, his body colliding with the railing, only for his feet to slip on the ice and lose control. He went over the side, plummeting towards the road below.

The angle changed to show a car driving down the road, just as Nuru's body slammed onto the roof, causing the car to swerve out of control and come to a screeching halt before it could slam into the traffic barriers.

The technician paused the footage, and laid back in his chair, stunned. I looked to Lyman, he was white as a sheet with sweat covering his face.

We stood there, silent as we took in what we saw.

"I...uh...spoke to the patrolman," Zhang managed to say, "By the time he reached the platform, it was too late. But he...he said he heard something that sounded like a woman laughing. We blamed it on the wind but now…now I'm not so sure."

"Captain, do you think we're dealing with a...a ghost?" The technician asked.

"Do you have a restroom I can use?" Lyman asked nervously. He had a look in his eyes, a look of recognition.

Zhang nodded and gave him directions, and Lyman jogged out of the room. I followed.

I entered the restroom, empty except for the two of us. I watched Lyman wipe the sweat off his face with a wet paper towel.

"What the hell was that?" I asked.

"I-I-I-I don't know," He stammered fearfully.

"Stop lying to me!" I snapped, "I saw it in your eyes, you recognized that thing that scared Nuru off the bridge! Our friend is dead, and he might not be the first victim of this phantom!"

He looked at me, stunned, "Vesalius?"

I nodded.

We relocated to a small meeting room that Zhang provided for us to talk as he considered what he going to tell his superiors. I told Lyman Ozpin of my trip to Mistral, the slaughter of Vesalius' family and my interrogation with Yi, and his unsettling answers. I told him in as much detail as I could bear, and he was just as disgusted and enraged as I knew he would be, but he was also shaken up by what a mention of 'her' and how Yi had known about our nightmares.

"This is getting out of hand." He said.

"I know," I agreed, "And I have the terrible feeling that more of us are going to die."

He looked at me with a grave expression before telling me, "I wonder if you're right. Now, about that figure in the recording...you remember our weekly meeting, when I denied having a nightmare like you and Nuru had?"

I nodded, "Well, I did have a nightmare, and I dreamed that my son Ozma was getting married inside of the grand chapel in center of Vale's capital. We were all there, Emily, myself and the rest of our kids, you and your family, Nuru and his kids, Ozma's old teammates and his colleagues from Beacon. I had no idea who his bride was, yet something about her was eerily familiar. We watched as she strode down the aisle in a decadent dress, slowly and purposefully, as if savoring every step.

"She reached the altar, and the priest read from the pages of the ritual book. My uneasiness steadily grew with every word, until Ozma finally said I do, she returned it with a sinister echo of the word. Then she turned away from him and turned to the crowds, stepping towards us...and then she threw back her veil, her clothes disintegrating to reveal the same horrible figure we saw in that footage, screaming like a creature out of hell." Lyman told me, stopping to take a breath.

My gaze never left him, I waited eagerly for him to continue, "What happened next? Did you wake up?"

"I wish," He scoffed, "That's when the terror really began. Everyone began crying out in pain, doubling over and grabbing at their bodies, but we three survivors of Team ABON, along with Ozma, were not being affected. We simply watched in confused horror as the people around us began bleeding from the eyes and mouths, with bony protrusions jutting out from their bodies. A horrible, black substance began leaking out of the mouths of everyone there, people began vomiting up the bile and the screams turned to roars and the screams of the children were the worst of all, they made these distorted cries for their parents to make the burning stop that transformed into these pitiful squeals. I watched Emily as her face elongated, bones forcing the mask of a Beowolf as her skin ripped open to reveal black fur, while the terrible black oil poured from their mouths."

"They were turning into Grimm." I stated, and he nodded.

"Everyone in the cathedral, save for the three of us and Ozma. And the bride," Lyman Ozpin told me, We all looked back up at her as she lowered her veil back down, and lifted it to reveal herself...it was…"

"Salem." I said.

He slowly nodded, "Yes. It was her. Grinning with satisfaction."

We sat in silence for some time, before he finally broke it to ask "What are we going to do?"

I sighed and replied, "I don't know. I don't know why her spirit has come back now, after all these years. I think I know why she's doing this, I practically seduced her under the orders of the Guardians of Remnant, we needed her to go along with the plan to defeat the Mistress of Grimm. It broke my heart to sacrifice her, I remember Bertilak holding me back as that terrible temple of the Grimm collapsed to stop me from saving her. The Maiden powers resided within new hostesses, because the previous holders gave their lives for our world, but not willingly."

"She wants revenge. She blames us." Lyman said, shaken.

"I can't think of any other answer," I told him, "Yi was my apprentice, so she twists his mind to kill him into an insane killer. Vesalius introduced her to us, she has Yi slaughter him and his family. Team ABON…"

"She was responsible for Bertilak's disappearance." Lyman cut me off, "And she killed Nuru."

"Yes," I confirmed, "The Guardians and Knights who devised the plan to sacrifice the Maidens have all passed on, so we are the targets of her wrath. We're being picked off one by one…"

"We need to do something before she kills anyone else. I propose we do some research in the days leading up to the funeral, and once Nuru is buried the two of us should go to Mistral, go up to the ruins of Tihuta Base, and try to stop her." Lyman offered.

I nodded and said, "We'll have to find a way to help her find peace, lay her to rest and set her soul free of this grudge. We need to redeem ourselves of the sin we committed against her."

Lyman sighed before saying "Very well. Let's go back out and talk to Zhang, see what he will do."

As it turns out, they ruled Nuru's death as a suicide. Outrageous. I've known him for forty-five years, he wasn't capable of taking his own life, not even with all the grief Angela's death caused him. But try telling the so-called 'justice system' that.

And as for the horrible apparition, they claimed it was a trick of the light. An afterimage.

Damn fools.

Thankfully, both Vale's Library and the archives in Beacon have extensive sections on the paranormal and the mysterious phenomena the various people in our world have experienced.

I have read many legends, tragic deaths leading to wandering phantoms or malevolent spirits seeking revenge, but nothing overly specific about stopping them.

In my research, I came across a rather interesting legend from the early tribes of Remnant.

* * *

One of these tribes believed that devils and demons aren't creatures of hell, but as things born of our own world. As natural as the rivers and the trees, but they are of the darker part of nature that thrives on the evil half of life. Everything has an evil side to it, from humans to Faunus to animals, although some people allow that evil side to overshadow their good. To live and breathe the spider must kill the fly, the hawk must kill the rabbit, man kills what he pleases. The predators thrive, but the prey must die for our own survival, and that is the dark side of nature. Some believe that every time innocent blood is spilled, no matter what form of life it is, from a mighty elephant to a powerful Huntsman to a frail Faunus girl to a cat to an insect, that blood sinks into the earth and pools up in a particular spot with the blood of other innocents until finally, the souls of the slaughtered merge together into a breathing spirit, one corrupted and twisted...a demon. It goes out into the world to capture the living, drawn by the shadows of our own evil. Or sometimes other things come out, ghosts, banshees...maybe that is the true origin of the Grimm.

Did turn Salem into one of these things?

Was she transformed into a demon because of me?

* * *

I simply cannot believe Lyman Ozpin.

Today, as I continued my research in Beacon's library, Ozma approached me. We talked casually for a few minutes about the arrangements of the funeral, how Jacqueline was handling the loss of her father. We moved over to a little solitary corner to continue our conversation.

"I've been helping my mom look for photographs of Nuru for the funeral," He told me, "Can I trust you to keep a secret?"

I gave him a look and said "That depends on what it is. You're not having sexual relations with a Faunus are you?"

"No, nothing like that," He denied before lowering his voice and quietly continuing, "Ten days ago I went out to the bars with some old friends of mine. And there she was, sitting alone in a corner booth. After I got up the courage, egged on by my friends and a bit of the old alcohol, I walked over and asked her if I could buy her a drink. I was surprised by how easily she accepted my offer. After a while, after I was properly drunk, she asked me if I had a place for the night and I knew what that meant. Please don't tell my mom, but I couldn't turn down an offer from a woman looking like that. My buddies gave me thumbs up as I left the bar with her. We made it to a hotel she was staying at and on the way up in the elevator, she initiated the kiss. She didn't disappoint, let me tell you.

"We made it to her room, and that was where things started to get weird. She started asking me questions about my father, and his friends. I wondered, 'Why does she care about a bunch of old men?', but figured she was a fan of old Huntsman teams and knew whose son I was. I asked her why she wanted to know, and then she said for every question I answered, she'd take off a piece of clothing, and once she was done, she'd give me the best night of my life. Well, what sane man would turn that down?

"I answered to the best of my ability, questions about my dad, you, Mr. Nuru, even told her about your apprentices and the grief Nuru's been going through after Angela died. I had no idea why she was so interested, but I with each question she shed more and more pieces of her clothes. Soon enough she was naked...she was unusually pale, but that did nothing to detract from her perfect body.

"Well, I went into the bathroom to strip and give myself a little pep talk. I went out...and instantly I could tell that something was wrong. The room was suddenly cold, and I could see her lying face down on the bed. At first I just figured she was trying to make us cling tighter during the sex for warmth, but then I noticed she wasn't breathing. I walked over to her, trying my best not to oogle her rear and that's when I noticed her blonde hair was suddenly much brighter, it was white now.

"It was then that I realized I didn't even know her name. I asked her what her name was as I placed my hand on her shoulder...and she was cold, as cold as the Atlesian Seas. Then she turned around, her face was...her face had this seductive quality to it, with a sinister smile as her eyes, I'm not kidding, her eyes turned red like a Grimm, and then she threw me across the room and I slammed into the wall.

"By the time I woke up, it was morning, and I was all alone. There was no sign she had even been there, the bed was made, her clothes were gone...I'd been duped. Thankfully it was a Saturday, so I wouldn't be in trouble with my job at Beacon, but I still had to pay for the room. Apparently she told them her boyfriend would pay for the room."

I looked at Ozma, confused and frightened. Had he seen her?

And then it got worse.

"The other day I was helping mom find photos of Nuru for the funeral. She sent me down to

the basement to find more of the old photo albums for mom, and I found something buried deep in one of the old boxes…" Ozma told me as he took out an old photograph from his pocket and gently placed it face down on the table we sat at, "This photo was taped to the back of one of the albums. I picked it up out of the box and the back flew open, and I saw this picture taped to the back, as if someone was hiding it. I took off the tape and it's a picture of my father and a woman who is definitely not my mother, but I still instantly recognized her."

I gave him a wary look before I flipped the photo around…

And I saw a young Lyman Ozpin dancing with Salem.

I froze up, my blood running cold, as I remembered that night before our final battle with the Grimm Queen. That last night for so many people, who gave their lives to vanquish a great evil from Remnant, I remember dancing with Salem, dancing with that picture of beauty.

I had taken a break, my feet were worn out from so much dancing, so Lyman took my place. Now that I look back on it, he did seem rather eager to dance with her. At the time I thought nothing of it, it was only natural a young man would want to dance with someone who could only be called a Goddess of Winter.

Now I was gazing at this old photo, seeing the infatuation in his eyes. And now that I think about it, I remember his jealous looks as my relationship with her took off, but I was too in love and too dense to realize his envy.

"This was hidden?" I asked.

"Yes sir, and she looks exactly the same as my mysterious woman. Who is she?" Ozma asked.

"Someone who died a long time ago. An old ghost from our past." I answered him, failing to hide the sadness in my voice. Or even the nervousness, "Why did you bring this to me?"

"Because I trust you to be more truthful than my father," He explained as he gave me a concerned look before asking with an unsettled voice, "Do you think this is a daughter? A half-sister I didn't know about looking for revenge on her father?"

"No. I know for a fact your father did not have sex with the woman in the picture." I told him, that at least was true since Maidens needed to be virgins in order to keep their seasonal powers, "I'm going to have to speak to Lyman about this."

"Please, don't let my mother know. Spare her feelings." Ozma said.

I smiled at him, his skin was tan and his hair dark like his mother. He always wanted to do right by her, which is why he didn't seek an active career as a Huntsman.

"Don't worry, this will be between us and your father." I promised.

Once the school let out for the day, Ozma and I made our way over to the Ozpin manor in the city. I braced myself for the inevitable confrontation.

Ozma and I greeted Emily, doing our best to act casual. She told us Lyman was doing research in his study, which she assumed was his own way of dealing with the loss of his partner. We entered his study, where he was pouring over books about the supernatural.

"Oh, hello, Luc. Have you found anything?" He asked me.

"Ozma has," I answered as I placed the photo down on the desk. His eyes widened in shock as he slowly looked up at us. "I was the one in a relationship with her, and even I managed to force myself to burn all the photos of her, so why the hell do you have a picture of her?"

His gaze intensified into a glare as he stood up, ordering "Ozma, please get out and close the door on your way."

Ozma began to move before I spoke up firmly, "No. He's seen Salem, he's talked to her. He's a part of this now."

"Oh Oum no…" Lyman said in horror.

"Salem? Is that her name?" Asked Ozma as he shut the door for privacy.

We both looked at him quietly, not sure what to say.

"Come on! Something's going on, right? Who is Salem and what does she have to do with you? What is going on?!" Ozma demanded to know.

And so, Lyman and I explained who Salem was, telling him that the old legend of the Four Maidens was true. We told him how our team were among the top Huntsman teams in all of the Four Kingdoms, and we had gained the attention of a secret group that worked high up in both the governments and the academies, the Guardians of Remnant. How they told us the truth of the Grimm Queen, the Dark Mistress, and how they planned for a grand campaign to destroy her. We had accepted the mission, and after some months, we were trusted enough to be introduced, by the courier Vesalius, to the four Maidens.

Salem was the Winter Maiden.

We bonded with them, and I told him how Salem and I became quite involved with each other. The Maidens could not have sex, they needed to remain virgins or they forfeit their powers to whomever the forces within them deem worthy, but that didn't stop us from other ways of expressing our love.

Things went wrong when the Guardians of Remnant devised a plan to destroy the Mistress of Grimm, but it would require a great effort from the Four Maidens...an effort that could kill them.

The Maidens, at that time, had apprentices to train and make worthy to be successors, that way they would not be lost. Most of the Maidens were prepared to sacrifice themselves for our world, but Salem, however, wasn't so keen. She was a kind person, but she could be selfish at times and took great offense at the idea of giving up her life.

And so I was given the order to convince her to do it. To trick her, lie to her, seduce her... anything to get her to do it. I managed to convince her that the plan had been rethought and now there was a much better chance of her survival. I hated it, but I forced myself to deceive her.

The night before our final campaign to destroy the Grimm Queen, we celebrated at Tihuta Base. We knew many of us would die, so we would simply enjoy ourselves one last time. Salem and I danced together for as long as we could, and it was one of the happiest nights of my life. I eventually became tired out and let Lyman have a go with her, and it's only now that I understand his feelings.

"I resented and envied you deeply, Luc," He confessed to us, "The moment I laid eyes on Salem, I was bewitched by her beauty. Her sapphire eyes, her hair, her body, and her face was akin to that of a loving goddess...I wanted her, and I treasured every moment I had with her. I couldn't bring myself to destroy that picture, I love Emily more than I let on, but I couldn't destroy that reminder of her and the way I felt about her."

I had never seen my old friend so vulnerable, so open about his emotions. Ozma just looked at his father, more sympathetic than I had expected.

I finished the story, telling Ozma about our final battle with the Grimm Queen and her countless legions of Grimm, and how we, with the help of the Maidens and the mythic Remnant Knights, defeated her, but at a great cost.

The Maidens were drained, their aura was gone and their wounds were too great. They died, one by one, and their powers transferred to their apprentices...but Salem did not go easily, we thought she was dead, but our attention was stolen by the battle outside, as it grew more chaotic, Mighty explosions caused the dark palace built into the side of the mountain, overlooking the eastern sea of Mistral, to crumble. We were forced to flee, but Lyman and I stopped in our tracks when we heard Salem call for help.

She was still alive.

We tried to go back as the castle was rocked by explosions, but Nuru, Bertilak and the others held us back as the chamber of the Grimm Queen collapsed into the floor as that section of the castle fell into the sea, taking all the bodies - and Salem - with it.

No one could have survived that.

Salem didn't, and now she haunts us.

We told Ozma everything, our nightmares and Yi's descent into a murdering madman, Nuru's death, his strange encounter, Bertilak's disapperance...it was all Salem's doing.

Ozma, shocked and mortified by the story, asked us what we planned to do.

"Well, from what we can gather she haunts Tihuta Base. If her soul lurks there, we will confront her and do our best to set her spirit free and lay her to rest." Lyman told his son.

"But dad, it's like she's a vengeful spirit. Can you reason with that?" He asked.

"We can try." I told the young man, "If we follow the examples written down, to speak to her and offer our apologies, do whatever we can to earn her forgiveness...we can end this curse."

Ozma nodded, "I'm going with you."

"No!" Bellowed Lyman.

"Dad, I'm the one who told her about you guys! I told her about Nuru mourning his wife! I told her about Yi! She used me! I have to help you stop her! I am not taking no for an answer!" Ozma said, more determined and firm than I had ever heard him.

Lyman stared at his son, and smirked, "That's my boy."

After that Ozma left to help his mother with the funeral that would be held tomorrow, while Lyman and I talked about Salem.

I suppose we both loved her. We both never forgave ourselves for what happened to her.

It's up to us to end this, and set her spirit free from the hell we condemned her to.

* * *

I am the last of Team ABON

Lyman Ozpin is dead.

Miss Foley woke me up to give me the terrible news that my last remaining teammate is gone.

I didn't have breakfast, I got dressed and raced over to the Ozpin manor, telling Miss Foley to greet my family who were coming in for the funeral. When I arrived, I saw a coroner's van and some police cars were parked outside. I barged inside to be greeted by Ozma, who had a look of fear written on his face.

"What happened?" I asked.

"Coroner says he appears to have died of a heart attack, but that doesn't account for the marks on his body, so he won't be certain until the autopsy is performed." Ozma replied as calmly as he could, holding back tears, "But I...I saw his face, Luc. His died with an expression of pure terror, mom and I were there as he died, screaming and calling out, begging for _her _to stop. Begging for forgiveness."

Salem had taken another friend from me.

I did my best to comfort a sobbing Emily as Lyman's covered body was wheeled out on the gurney. I cried with her and their children, who had come for Nuru's funeral, only to lose the head of the family. They answered the police's questions to the best of their ability, but Ozma and I knew what really happened.

We did our best to carry on, my family and I joined the Ozpin family at Nuru's funeral that day, poor Emily had to be supported by her children the whole time while Lyman's body was tended to. Nuru's family gave their sincere condolences, knowing their pain.

I fear my family will know that pain very soon, so I plan to spend as much time with them as possible before I leave for Mistral.

I don't want to bring Ozma with me, I don't want anyone else to die because of her, but he's like in father in terms of stubbornness. Now Ozma wants justice for his father. He said he'll go himself if he has to, but he is going. We might as well do it together.

We've agreed to travel to Mistral next week, allowing me enough time with my family and time for Ozma to comfort Emily.

The autopsy came in, saying he died of a fear induced heart attack, and the strange marks around his neck and chest were bruises caused by the body's death throes.

I know the truth.

I'd writer in further detail, but I'm very tired and very frightened. About an hour ago, my phone rang, with Morgan telling me there was a woman wanting to speak to me.

It was Salem's voice on the other end, telling me, "He never was a very good dancer. You were much better. Would you like to join me?"

I was utterly terrified, but managed to speak defiantly, "I'll join your dance."

"Same place as last time. See you soon." She replied, before ending the call.

She's not coming after me. I have to go after her.

I'm going to spend the week with my family, with my grandchildren. I'll be there for the Ozpin family as they lay Lyman to rest...and then I'll do my best to stop her.

This may be my final entry.

* * *

It's been four days since we buried Lyman, and now that Emily has calmed down and the rest of her children are keeping her company, Ozma and I have made our way to Volosa and we are currently preparing for our journey to Tihuta Base.

I spent as much time as I could with my children; Lance, Morgan and Graham, as well as their own children. I played with them, told them stories of my own adventures, told them tales of their late grandmother. I hope they remember me fondly.

We decided our mission had to begin when Yi used his one phone call privilege. I didn't want to speak to him, but the officer on the line insisted, saying his behavior had changed drastically over night. When I spoke to Yi, he sounded like his old self, to an extent. He was lucid, desperate, devastated.

"Master...help me!"

"I can't do anything for you, no more than I could have done for the two men, two women, three children and two Faunus you mercilessly murdered." I replied coldly.

"But I wasn't in control!" He sobbed, "I didn't do it! I was being used like...like a puppet! I could feel it controlling my body, my voice! I was forced to watch as I slaughtered them! I was not in control of my actions!"

"All right, all right," I told his with a firm voice, "A week ago I'd think you a liar, but after what I've seen...well, I think I can give you the benefit of the doubt. Yi, did you see her?"

"Salem?" He replied.

I swallowed, "Yes."

"It was her. Those eyes...like cold eyes shining through a fire… She told me everything as she gave me shelter, and then she… she put something in me...I don't know what it was, but it's out of my body now. It was a kind of Grimm, looked like some horrible insect! Last night it burrowed out of my body, I felt it crawling under my skin!"

"A...a Grimm?" I asked.

"Yes. It broke its way out of my skin and crawled out from my straight-jacket...and I crushed it, and so it faded away. They're calling me a liar, saying I just smartened up enough to realize what's going to happen to me! I don't want the gallows or the firing squad! Please, help me!" He begged.

Tears formed in my eyes. It all made sense now.

She turned my old student into a killer to slaughter Vesalius' family and hurt me! To make me feel like I failed! To ruin more lives because of what I did to her!

My punishment is not simply death like the rest of my team got. My suffering will be far more severe.

I promised Yi I would do everything in my power to help him, to prove she was behind his crime and that he was just another victim.

Ozma and I boarded a flight for Mistral, and from the airport, we took a bus to Volosa and rented out two rooms at the local inn. I was about to make my way to the police station, when Inspector Kitaj came into the inn, obviously looking for me.

"There you are, Mr. Arc. Your kids told me you'd be here. I was trying to reach you…" He said, his voice heavy and uneasy.

"What happened?" I asked him bluntly, fearing the answer.

"It's your former apprentice. He's dead, sir." Kitaj answered for me.

I sat down on a chair in the foyer of the inn, shedding tears for my former student. A good man, twisted into a tool for evil against his will. I collected myself and looked up at Kitaj, who kindly gave me the time I needed.

"What happened?" I questioned.

"Come with me." He said.

I decided to bring Ozma, feeling he needed to know everything, if we were going to be prepared to fight her. They introduced themselves to each and I told him about the deaths of Lyman and Nuru, and that we both felt there was a connection to the Vesalius massacre and Yi's breakdown.

As we drove over to the police station in Kitaj's police cruiser, I asked "Did the sheriff inspect Tihuta Base?"

"Yes, he and the other officers failed to find anything. They have photos to prove it, it looks like nothing but animals have been in there since they shut it down thirty years ago, save for the odd intruder or two. Looked like Yi had been the only person to step foot in there for years." Kitaj told us as he drove into the station's parking lot.

"When Yi called me a few days back, he said something about an insectoid Grimm burrowing out of his flesh, any truth to that?" I asked as Kitaj parked the car.

"Well, we was bleeding pretty badly on his arm, and he was like a completely different person after that supposedly happened. And how he died...I don't think I could do it justice, the coroner said she's never seen anything like it. His brain showed signs of a massive seizure which had a bizarre kind of damage to the entire brain was unlike anything on record. And his heart, the major arteries were clean as a whistle, as if something sucked the life out of him. you'll just have to watch the footage." Kitaj told us as we got out of his police cruiser and walked towards the doors.

We came to the monitoring room, quite small compared to the one in Vale. A television was set up on a table with a disc which contained the footage of Yi's death, ready to be inserted.

"Are you sure you want to see this?" He asked us.

"Yes." I answered without hesitation.

He inserted the disc into the slot on the side of the monitor, and it turned on to show us footage of Yi, lying on the cott of his solitary cell asleep. All of a sudden he began making odd, disturbed noises before crying out _"No! No! It wasn't me! I couldn't help it! It was her! No! Please! Stop! No!"_

His body began to spasm violently, he threw himself left and right, restrained by the straight-jacket. His feet shot up into the air, shaking and kicking violently as his head shook from side to side rapidly, his mouth was wide open as he began to scream.

He screamed at the top of his lungs, he screamed for help, for mercy, for forgiveness.

Then Yi shouted "_Who are you?!"_

"It's like he's having a nightmare…" Muttered Ozma as we watched Yi seemingly calm down.

"Any-anything! Please! Help me! I don't care! I just want this to end!" Yi shouted as his body writhed. "Yes! I accept! I accept! Please hel-AHHHHGGHRRAAAEEE!"

We watched as Yi's body shook and vibrated like a flag in the wind as his eyes snapped open and he suddenly stopped breathing, his torso moved back like a folding chair before he let out one last terrible scream, and his body slumped over, his head colliding into the wall.

"And that was the death of Cha Yi. Time of death was three a.m. this morning." Kitaj told us as he paused the footage, Ozma keeping his eyes on the screen.

I walked away, pressing a hand to face as I mourned my poor apprentice. He had been twisted into a monster and only after he regained control of himself was he violently killed by something. I knew this was no medical death, Salem did this.

"Wait a minute, what the hell is that?" Ozma asked.

Kitaj and I looked back, and saw Ozma was pointing at the window in the cell, a small one with bullet-proof glass. Sure enough, there was an odd shape appearing in the glass, like a reflection.

Kitaj worked the enhance feature on the monitor to enlarge the window, and we gasped at what we saw. This _thing _it looked like it was made out of liquid darkness, its face was similar to that of a Geist's. It had long black tentacles extending from the circumference of its face which seemed to be twitching constantly, if the motion blurs were anything to go by. It had two huge clawed hands that looked capable of tearing its potential victims apart. Upon enhancing further and rewinding a bit, we could see the masked face was splitting apart horizontally to reveal many sharp teeth.

"What the hell?" Kitaj muttered, shocked.

"It looks like a Grimm, but I've never seen one like this before." Ozma commented.

"Nor have I. Geists can go through walls, but it wouldn't go after one person, it would have preyed upon the officers stationed here, going after the anger they felt towards Yi. And Geists don't have mouths or tentacles like that." I stated, glaring at the horrible thing on the monitor, "Yi was a loose end, and that thing tied him up."

"What are you talking about?" Kitaj demanded.

"We believe," I began, "That someone or something has orchestrated Yi's mental breakdown and his death, as well as the deaths of my teammates and the Vesalius family, as revenge for the death of a woman I...that wronged forty years ago."

"Someone with a mind-bending Semblance? Or something to summon up nightmarish illusions?" Kitaj asked, "Do you have any idea who?"

"Do you believe in ghosts, Inspector?" I asked him.

He smirked, but it vanished when we realized I was not joking.

"You think a vengeful spirit is responsible for this?" He questioned, "That's insane!"

"It's either that, or what you just suggested. Either way, I think the mastermind behind this is up at Tihuta Base right now." I told him.

"What makes you think that?" He asked me.

"Because she called me, and issued a clear invitation. I can't disappoint her." I told him, to which he looked at me incredulously.

"Can you lend us a car?" Ozma inquired, "We're going up there, to end this."

"I can't let you go alone," He said, "I'm going with you."

"You don't have to." I said.

"I'm not sitting this out," He stated firmly, "The Vesalius family deserves justice, and if there's a chance that Chan Yi was not responsible for his actions, then I want to help take down whoever's behind this. We can take my car."

Ozma and I shared a look, and I smiled. "Very well, after lunch." I said.

We're about to set out for the mountains. I do not know what will happen, or even if I will survive, but I have to try and make things right. Should this be my last mission, then I bid you goodbye, whoever shall read this.

* * *

This will be the final entry. My name is Ozma Ozpin, and I'm sorry to say that Luc Arc is no longer able to write this story, so I have to finish it for him.

Luc, Inspector Kitaj and myself piled into the police cruiser. I was armed with my old weapon, Walking Blade, a walking stick with concealed blades at both ends, and Luc had his sword, while Kitaj was armed with an assault rifle the police rarely get to use.

None of us, not even Luc, knew exactly what was up there.

"I hope there's something up there, or I'll be the butt of every joke for the next year." Kitaj said as he drove us away from the fields and towards the slopes of the mountain.

"Oh, she's up there." Luc said as he stated intently at the mountains. I looked up at the thick woods, not seeing anything, but I expected that's where the base was. The drive took a while, mainly due to the snow covered roads that the cruiser's plow would sometimes struggle to clear away, as the mountain roads weren't tended to as regularly as the streets back in town or in the countryside.

"Shouldn't we be doing this tomorrow?" I asked Luc before pointing out, "It's going to be dark soon."

"Hopefully this will end before the sun sets," Luc said before he looked out to the cloudy sky, blocking the sun's light. "Not that it would matter. But still, everything thus far suggests she's more active during the night, and while my studies indicate that paranormal activity occurs during the day and the night, it appears she prefers to prey upon us at night. The earliest incident were the deaths of your father and Nuru, which occurred very early in the morning."

"'Paranormal'," Scoffed Kitaj, "I still think this is some relative of hers with a weird Semblance, out for revenge."

"I doubt that very much. Her parents died years ago, she was an only child, all her former teammates are dead…" Luc listed off as I leaned against the window as we drove through the forest, the car running over branches that had torn off trees by the wind.

All of a sudden, I saw a figure moving in the distance, I looked harder, making out the figure of a woman in a black dress moving through the trees.

"Stop!" I yelped, "I see someone!"

Kitaj brought the car to a screeching halt, making me jerk forward and bump into the back of his chair as Luc asked "Where?!"

"Over there, my side!" I told them as I pushed myself back, trying to spot the figure again, "I saw a woman wearing a flowing black dress! Somewhere over there!"

I opened the car door and stepped out, Kitaj following suit while taking out a pair of binoculars from a box full of gear in between the seats. He gazed through the binoculars, turning his head to survey the area.

"I don't see anything." He said.

I didn't either. I listened closely, trying to hear any sign of movement out there among the snow and the branches.

Nothing.

"Hello?" I called out, the echo of my voice was carried by the wind, which subtly blew the tree branches above us.

Still, nothing.

I looked down at my feet, somewhat embarrassed, before I looked back up to see Kitaj giving me a certain look. "Are you up for this? Seems like this spooky shit is getting to you."

"I'm fine," I assured him, before Luc let out a cry of surprise. We both looked back into the car to see Luc scrambling away from his window, and I could just barely see a shape sinking below the window.

"Her shadow cast over me! She's here!" He shouted. Kitaj ran over to the other side, rifle ready to fire, but nothing was there.

Well, almost nothing.

He glanced down and said "What the hell…? Footprints?"

I slowly came around the other side and looked down, and sure enough, a set of footprints were there, suddenly appearing before Luc's side of the car and moving towards where I stood...and moving under the car.

Kitaj, suddenly not so sure about this, shared a look with me and gestured for me to join him in looking under the car. He went to the front, and I to the back, we dropped down, weapons ready to strike…

There was the outline of a body in the snow, but no one was there.

"What the hell?! That wasn't there when we were driving towards it!" Exclaimed Kitaj.

"She's having fun with us." Luc said from inside the car, "Maybe trying to slow us down."

Kitaj and I rose to our feet, wiping the snow off our clothes.

"I did not expect any of this when I woke up this morning." The Inspector said as he glanced around nervously.

Before I could reply, there was this very strange, haunting noise calling through the forest. All three of us looked in the direction it was coming from, in front of us. It sounded like this lonely mixture of an owl's call and the lonely cry of a wolf.

"That doesn't sound like any Grimm I've ever heard," Luc said before quietly asking Kitaj "Any idea what that is?"

"No idea. I've lived here for twenty years and I've never heard anything like that." He answered as he gripped his rifle as the strange noise called again.

We stayed there for a few minutes, waiting for something, anything, to happen.

Finally, I said "Let's go."

Kitaj nodded and we got back into the car. As we drove away, I failed to resist the urge to look back.

Instead of someone standing where the car had been or a face looking in on me through the rear window, instead there was only a feminine looking handprint on the window. It hadn't been there before.

We drove up the hills and plowed through heavy snowbanks, avoided downed trees, and we finally reached the ruins of what was once Tihuta Base.

Ruins is a strange word to use to describe it, as the huge seven-floor building seemed to be mostly intact. True, some trees had collapsed onto it, all the windows were shattered, and the doors were shut, but it was in decent shape, all things considered.

Kitaj parked the car, and Luc was the first of us to get out. He looked up at the building, with a look I recognized as expressing nostalgia.

"Good memories?" I asked him.

"Yeah. Believe it or not, this place was once quite beautiful, it was a castle belonging to a warlord hundreds of years ago and the Mistral government turned it into one of its top military bases, and some great things happened here." He replied as he stepped forward towards the doors.

I half expected them to open on their own, but thankfully Luc pulled them open.

Kitaj glanced around behind us, gun at the ready. "Oum," He said, "I just now realized we don't even have a plan! What the hell are we doing here?"

"We have a plan. Lay her to rest, set her soul free." Luc answered.

"Don't you need her remains to do that?" I asked.

He looked back at me and said "Her remains are with those of everyone else in the sunken ruins of that castle. There was an effort to retrieve the bodies, and though some were found, she was not among them. I might have to do something drastic, but if it puts an end to this nightmare, then so be it."

I had to admire his bravery.

Kitaj came up behind us and said "Be on guard, look." He gestured down to the ground, where the unmistakable tracks of a Beowolf were embedded in the snow, "I might not be a Huntsman, but even I know Beowolves are always in packs."

"Right," I said as I took out my trusty weapon, "We're ready for them."

Luc nodded and gestured into the base. "Come on."

We entered entry hall of the base. It was rather extravagant, with a main desk facing us and the main staircase behind it, splitting off into two others that moved up above us. To the left was a large waiting area with doors leading mess-hall, along with another door that was labeled _'Basement'_ and the offices of the secretary staff and other personnel were to our right. It looked like it used to be a wonderful place, but the years had not been kind to it The walls were grimy and covered with dead vines. The gunmetal grey doors were badly rusted, and the broken windows confirmed that the desks and chairs behind them were too. Dead leaves were everywhere, not to mention the dead bodies of small woodland animals, so the place didn't exactly smell its best.

Luc wandered to the staircase, and placed his hand on the bannister, gripping it as he looked up to the upper levels of the base.

"Salem and I...shared a room on the sixth floor," He said, "I suggest we do a thorough search of every floor as we go up, just to be sure. Kitaj, take the right. Ozma and I will check the left."

"Right," Kitaj said as he made his was for the offices. He came to the first one and slammed his foot into the door, shining the flashlight attachment on its side, and something flew out of the room.

He let out a shout of surprise as a small murder of crows flew out of the room. "Fucking birds!" He swore angrily as they flew out the open doors.

I took a deep breath to calm myself, realizing that I was shaking a bit. Luc had noticed and gave me a comforting look.

"Well...wouldn't be a true ghost hunt without a scare like that." I said, trying to put it off.

He smiled and asked "Kitaj, are you all right?"

"I'll be fine, as long as no more horror cliches rear their ugly head!" He remarked as he went about his search.

Luc and I went into the mess-hall, pushing the doors open. Taking out my flashlight and turning it on, we saw a mattress had been dragged into the center of the room, with half a dozen or so blankets scattered around it, and open food cans were strewn about the place, and a small fire pit had been built near, with old torn up chairs used as firewood.

"This is where Yi took shelter. Where she took control of him." Luc said as he walked around the room, trying to spot anything unusual. I shone the flashlight towards him, and spotted claw marks on the wall.

"Behind you." I told him.

He looked at the claw marks and said "Grimm, Beowolves by the looks of it."

"Think those Grimm he killed were using this place as a lair?" I offered.

"Possibly…" He said, before heading into the kitchen. It was equally desolate, with what little food cans that had been left behind being tossed about, open and empty. I went about opening the various cabinets and fridges, only to find the mauled corpses of raccoons and opossums stuffed into the inactive fridge. I stumbled back, the horrible smell attacked my nostrils like nothing I had ever encountered before.

Luc slammed the door shut, and looked at me, mortified, which I returned.

We searched a bit more, but found nothing else of note, so we met up with Kitaj in the main hall.

"Nothing in the offices, not so much as a file was left behind," He reported, "Only saw a few mice."

When I told him about the animal corpses, he was relieved that was all he saw.

We then traveled up to the second floor, the training rooms and gun ranges, sparring rooms. Again, all empty.

The third and fourth floors were where the barracks were, empty bed frames and a few mattresses with springs jutting out, dirty rags and trash laying on the floor.

As Luc and I walked carefully through the barracks, inspecting the beds and keeping a lookout to see if something moved in the shadows. With our flashlights, the shadows grew thin and long and every time I thought I saw something moving in the darkness, it always turned out to be some derelict object being moved by the wind through the broken windows, with a plastic wrap tied around one of the bunk bed columns giving us a little scare, and the echoes on Kitaj searching in the other rooms kept me on my toes.

"So," I said, trying to strike up a conversation to calm my nerves, "You and Salem shared a room? Isn't that improper for a Maiden?"

"Sexual intimacy is forbidden for Maidens. They can still express love in other ways. They can still kiss...and can still show their bare bodies." Luc told me, sighing as he sat down on an old chair. He ran a hand through his hair and said "I never forgave myself. I did my best to make up for it, having three wonderful kids, raising them to the best of my ability, but the guilt of how I deceived her, lured her to her death has always haunted me. Literally, now, I suppose."

"You really did love her." I noted.

"And she loved me," He replied wistfully, "Since she was the Winter Maiden, she grew quite used to the cold, comfortable with it, but she could never quite get warm. When she and I entered a relationship, she began calling me 'her warmth'. I was proud of that, and I promised I would always keep her warm...but instead I left her there, trapped under icy water and heavy debris for decades. I suppose her heartbreak...her sorrow and anger was enough to keep her spirit bound to Remnant. I did this to her, and now I have to set her free."

I felt for the man. I knelt down in front of him and said "We can do it, Luc. I know we can."

He offered me a smile and nodded before he stood back up, saying "Let's keep searching."

We went upstairs to the fifth floor, the medical floor, made up of several infirmaries and quarters for the medical staff. This floor was worse than the others, with rusty medical saws and syringes spilled in front of a cabinet with broken glass. Old boxes of gauze and bandages were stacked on top of a gurney, while other rusty gurneys were piled atop one another. One of the ceiling lights had fallen, the glass of the tubular bulbs scattered about the place.

Kitaj shone his flashlight on an old wheelchair, one covered with cobwebs.

"If that thing moves towards us, I'm out of here," Joked Kitaj. I offered a laugh, but Luc wasn't amused.

After we searched the floor, finding little of note, we began to make our way up to the sixth floor.

"What's ahead of us?" I asked.

"Sixth floor is private rooms for guests and quarters for the officers, seventh floor is the offices of the general who was in charge of this base." Luc answered as we marched up the metal stairs, which creaked under our weight.

I glanced up the stairs and froze as I saw a shadowy shape dart out of view.

"There's someone up there!" I said in an urgent, hushed voice.

Kitaj got in front of me, carefully aiming his gun as he stomped up ahead of us.

He reached the top and came to a stop. "Holy shit," He hissed, before turning to us and instructing us to "Get up here!"

Luc and I climbed the stairs and came to a halt as we saw it.

Two words were carved into the floor; _'WELCOME LUC'_.

I glanced at my older friend, staring at the message with an unreadable face.

He walked ahead into the hall, and then glanced down another one and began walking towards something. Kitaj and I followed, not wanting him to be alone with whoever or whatever was up there.

He came to a stop at an old wooden door with a rusted knob and well-worn hinges.

"Luc?" I asked.

"This was...our room." He sighed as he reached out to the knob.

He turned it and pushed the door open. I wish he hadn't.

There were four messages carved out on the four walls.

_'I THOUGHT YOU LOVED ME'_

_'YOU WERE MY WARMTH'_

_'YOU LEFT ME'_

_'IT WAS SO COLD'_

"Oh God." Kitaj muttered as Luc walked slowly into the room, as if in a trance. He moved to the first one that caught our attention, 'I THOUGHT YOU LOVED ME'.

He pressed his hand against the wall, looking at the words, which looked to have been carved rather aggressively.

Kitaj and I came in, looking behind us to make sure nothing snuck up on us.

I looked to Luc as he hung his head sadly.

"This is my fault." He said, "I should have gone back for her. I should have died with her."

"Luc, no." I told him firmly, taking hold of his shoulders, "You were following orders…"

"Yes, and those orders never led to the destruction of all the Grimm like we believed they would." He voiced bitterly.

"Luc. Stop and think. You had a great wife, three kids and like seven grandkids!" I told him, trying to talk sense into him, "Would you really have preferred to throw all that happiness away to die with her?"

He slowly looked up at me, his eyes rich with sorrow, but with a hint of self reflection. He swallowed and said "I...I suppose not, Luc," He managed a smile and said "Thank you."

Before I could reply, Kitaj spoke up, "Arc, I don't think dying with her would have made a difference. Look."

We turned to look at Kitaj, and saw he was looking up at the ceiling, shining his flashlight up.

We looked up too, and saw the fifth message, which had a rusty blade stabbed next to it.

_'STILL ALIVE'_

I shuddered, and not just because those words terrified me, but because it was getting colder. I looked out the window, and noticed how dark it was getting. The trees were still, but the wind howled fiercely.

Then we heard the sound of a woman laughing.

Kitaj jumped and leveled his gun at the open door as got my blade ready for battle.

Luc simply walked ahead of us, saying "I'd know that laugh anywhere."

He went out into the hallway and looked back the way we came. "Salem!" He called, "You wanted me! Here I am!"

The old man stormed off down the hall, Kitaj and I following him. From the back of the group, I watched as Luc unsheathed his sword and shouted "I am sorry! I cannot apologize enough for the horrible thing I did to you! I left you to die horribly! To freeze to death! I was your warmth and I abandoned you! I deserved retribution, but not Vesalius' family! Not Yi! Not Nuru! They did nothing to deserve what you did to them! You want to complete your revenge! Well here I am! Destroy me if you can!"

The three of us waited in the shadowy hall as Luc's declaration echoed throughout the building.

"Luc, I-" I started to say, before there was a burst of dark aura out of nowhere and the floor below me collapsed. I screamed as I reached out, grabbing the jagged edges of the floor while the steel and marble crashed onto the floor beneath us, causing to to collapse as well, and the process repeated on the fourth floor, and then the third and so on until it came to a stop in the basement.

"Ozma!" Luc cried as Kitaj hopped down and grabbed my hand. I tried to climb up, pulled by Kitaj and Luc, but a sudden scream startled them, and I dropped down through the holes, smashing into the blunt or jagged ends of the opening on my way down, losing Walking Blade along the way. My arms, legs, chest and sides taking most of the damage, my aura flared violently and finally broke as I slammed into the pile of debris in the basement.

I screamed in pain as Luc and Kitaj called out to me.

"Ozma! Ozma! Are you all right, boy?!"

I tried to collect myself, seething in pain as he judged the pain coursing through my body, knowing my legs were badly injured, one of them was likely broken and my arms ached like crazy, and I had definitely cracked some ribs.

"I'm alive! I need medical attention!" I shouted up to them.

I could faintly hear Luc telling Kitaj "Go! Get down there! Don't wait for me, I'll catch up!"

I could hear Kitaj's boots thundering down the steps as he rushed to my rescue.

But he wasn't fast enough.

I pulled myself off the debris, rolling onto my back, but I stopped making any movement whatsoever, when I saw her standing about six feet from me.

Salem was in the basement with me.

She was hauntingly beautiful yet terribly imposing, her smile only added to that, and her red eyes stared right into my soul.

For a moment I was frozen with fear, as I was trapped with this terrifying, yet sensual thing.

"Hello, Ozma." She told me as she walked gracefully towards me.

I tried to move, I ignored the pain flaring up in my arms and tried to push myself towards the stairs, but she kept walking closer and closer, until she was practically on top of me.

"I'm sorry I left you that night, but I had things to attend to." She said, "Would you like to finish what we started?"

I shook me head, and despite my best efforts I let out fearful whimpers, getting a chuckle out of her.

"Oh, you poor thing. Shall I kiss it and make it better? Do you want to know what you were going to make love to?" She asked me as she brought her hand up to my face, affectionately caressing my cheek, and then harshly clawed her fingernails down my face, drawing blood.

I cried out in pain as I tried to get away from her, but my back was against the wall.

A light shone down on us, and I heard Kitaj's voice barking "Get away from him!"

We both looked up, seeing Kitaj carefully coming down the stairs to the basement. "Back off!" He snapped as he aimed his assault rifle at her, "Get back!"

Salem obliged and stepped away from me as Kitaj hurried down the steps and kept aiming at Salem.

"You okay?" He asked me.

"I'm alive," I answered, "That's enough for me at the moment."

"Hands in the air," Kitaj demanded as he marched Salem towards an old boiler, "You look pretty good for a woman who supposedly survived a castle falling into the ocean, and is supposed to be in her sixties."

"I've made certain...choices that have changed my life, and will one day change all of Remnant." Salem remarked.

"In your dreams," Snapped Kitaj, "You're under arrest, ghost lady."

"I think not." Salem replied as her eyes began to glow and she snapped her fingers.

That's when we heard the snarling. From out of the darkness, came the red eyes and glistening teeth of three Beowolves.

Kitaj and I were shocked, where the hell had they come from?

"Kill him." Salem said.

The Beowolves suddenly exploded out of the darkness and attacked Kitaj. He let loose a hail of bullets, killing the one closest to him, but too late to do anything as another Beowolf slashed at his face and arm, sending the assault rifle clattering to the floor. Kitaj screamed in pain as his aura flared, only for the remaining Beowolves slammed into him, biting and slashing as they crashed into a boiler, bursting through the old rusted metal and falling inside.

I shouted as Kitaj screamed in excruciating pain and horror, while the Beowolves mauled his body, tearing his flesh and ripping out his bones. Kitaj's blood went splattering out of the boiler and onto the floor as his screams began to die down, and the horrible sound of those beasts chewing on his organs and grinding his bones in their teeth.

I tried to reach for the assault rifle, only for Salem to pick it up. She looked down at me with an amused look before saying "Now, now...we wouldn't want you ruining this."

She snapped the assault rifle in half.

My face turned into a mask of despair, as I feared that my life was mere seconds away from death.

"Oh, don't worry, Ozma," She told me, "You will live. I need you to tell them that I am back. Are you afraid?"

"Yes." I confessed.

"Good." She said, as if she could sense and smell and even taste my terror.

"Ozma! Kitaj!" Came Luc's voice, the echoes of his footsteps getting close.

Salem's head snapped over to look up the stairs, and then glanced back at me, offering a sinister smile as she moved swiftly to vanish into the shadows behind the staircase.

"Luc!" I yelled as, using my remaining strength, I began to move myself to the stairs "Luc! She's down here! Kitaj is dead! Get out of here!"

Luc appeared at the top of the stairs, shining a flashlight down to look at the scene with horror.

"Oh Gods…" He said as gazed at the shapes of the Beowolves devouring Kitaj's body, "Hang on, lad!"

"No, don't!" I shouted.

Salem appeared behind him, grabbing him by the neck and lifting him up, turning him to face her.

"Hello, my love." She hissed with a voice full of scorn and hate.

"Salem…" He managed to say before she turned away, still carrying Luc with her, before throwing him out of view once she reached the top, resulting in a great clash. She glanced back down, and smiled at me.

"Luc!" I cried as I quickly grabbed onto the steps and began to drag myself up the stairs, glancing back to make sure the Beowolves hadn't noticed me.

"You have no idea how long I've waited for this." Salem's voice said.

"Forty years," Came Luc's voice, "Salem, I can't begin to apologize…"

"Damn right you can't, you old fool. I trusted you. I loved you!" She screamed, "And you left me for dead! Left me trapped and freezing! Left me to be crushed by the debris and drown in that cold water! Your love was all a lie!"

"No!" Shouted Luc, "I wanted to save you! I was desperate to save you! I never forgave myself for failing and deceiving you!"

"Neither have I." Salem seethed coldly.

They were quiet for a few seconds as I kept climbing, the pain in my legs was unbearable and my hands and arms ached as I pulled myself further and further to the open door.

"I can never be forgiven for the pain I caused you," I heard Luc say, "I would do anything to earn your forgiveness. What can I do?"

For a moment, there was silence. And then she answered, "Die."

I heard the sounds of the scuffle, and then, to my amazement, I heard Salem cry out in pain.

"So...you're no ghost. You're flesh and blood," Luc stated firmly, "You're message on the ceiling gave it away...you're not dead."

"Look into my eyes. You will see that I am quite dead." She replied coldly.

"The Salem I loved may be dead," Luc returned, "But you're not fully that woman anymore, are you? Your body, mind, and soul have been twisted into...something obscene."

"Take a good look. You know what I've become!" She snarled.

I heard Luc gasp in horror, "You...you're...you've become a new Grimm Queen!"

"Yes," Salem seethed, "I hung on to life for a twelve, painful hours as the water froze me, my dead sister Maidens floating around me...hoping you would rescue me. That was when the Darkness came."

"What Darkness?" Luc asked.

"Do you think Grimm Queen are just born? No. They are women transformed by grief and anger. The Darkness kept me alive, transformed my body, gave me incredible powers...and taught me such things, showed me such sights, took me to such places...and showed me how you lied to me, and forgot me." Salem told him.

"No!"

"Lying won't save you!" She roared, "You married and made love to someone other than me! You left me in the cold!"

"And how are you any better?!" Luc snapped, "You murdered my friends, who had nothing to do with your death! Murdered an innocent family! Twisted my apprentice into a mad killer before granting him sanity to torture him with the horrible acts you made him commit, and then killed him! And now you've killed an officer of the law...all to get back at me? How can you excuse yourself? Why didn't you just kill me in the first place?!"

Salem was quiet for a moment as I stopped to rest, almost to the top of the stairs now.

"I did it so you could feel my pain. You were instrumental into turning me into what I am now." She told him.

"How? How did you manipulate our dreams? How did you control Yi?" Luc demanded.

"My first creation as the Mistress of Grimm, I call it the Dreameater. It can conjure up the terrible nightmares from a person's deepest fears, pushing them to the brink of despair and terror. Once the victim is vulnerable, it appears and seemingly offer an easy way out, a lie ensnare the victim further so that it can strike quickly to devour their mind. Or it will simply strike to scare them to death." Salem explained.

That explains the nightmares and the deaths of my father, Nuru, and Yi.

"And what did you do to Yi? Why kill Vesalius' family?" Luc demanded to know as I kept climbing.

"Vesalius put my suffering into motion, and my wrath can be rather...unsubtle," Salem said, "Besides, the massacre created quite the stir; the fear, the anger, the sorrow...it's wonderful. As for your apprentice, I wanted to torture you, by twisting your student. I managed to control him with a special kind of Grimm that burrowed into his skin, while the Dreameater guided his mind and actions, and eventually killed him."

I grunted as I hauled myself onto the first floor, looking over to see Salem standing in the center of the hall, a battered-looking Luc standing next to a mess of old chairs and tables. His sword was far away from him, a bit of blood on it.

"And Bertilak...what did you do to my partner?" He asked.

"Wouldn't you like to know." She replied, sounding like she was enjoying his grief.

"You're a monster." Luc said to her, glaring.

"And you are a pathetic old man, the man who helped turn me into this monster" Salem said, "It is the nature of man to create monsters, and it is the nature of monsters to destroy their creators. Time to die."

Her hand shot forward and Luc flew into her grasp, her bone white hand squeezing around his throat.

"Luc!" I called helplessly.

Salem looked back at me, allowing me to see the thin train of blood on her left cheek, and smirked. "Watch carefully, Ozma, and tell the Guardians of Remnant and the Remnant Knights what you see. This is only the beginning of my reign." She said as her left hand pulled back, posed to strike Luc's chest.

"You're alive…" Luc rasped out, getting Salem's attention, "And if you're alive...you can be killed. By Oum you can…"

Salem slammed her hand into his chest, blood splattering all over.

I screamed in horror as Salem looked into Luc's dying eyes, and then ripped out his heart, showing it to him as he died. And then she crushed it.

All of Team ABON was dead.

She tossed Luc's corpse over to me, it crashed into the ground and skidded over towards me as I screamed, mourning and afraid.

The Beowolves stepped over me and walked over to Salem as she looked down on me, smiling triumphantly.

That's when I couldn't take it anymore, and I finally fell unconscious.

When I woke up, the sun was rising, and I had been moved to the mess-hall, laying atop the mattress Yi had slept on, bundled up in raggedy blankets. Apparently Salem wanted me to live so I could tell the Guardians of Remnant about her.

The smell of Luc and Kitaj's bodies hung in the air. I cried for them.

It took me nearly two hours, but I managed to drag myself down the stairs to dig Kitaj's keys out of his pocket, doing my best to ignore the horrible sight and smell of his mutilated body, drag myself back up the stairs, outside and to Kitaj's police cruiser and use the radio to call for help.

Pretty soon, Hagan and his deputies came to the rescue with an ambulance to take me to the nearest hospital. They checked out the building and the bodies as the paramedics looked me over.

As I was being loaded into the ambulance, Sheriff Hagan came over and asked "What the hell happened here?"

I was quiet for a moment, before I found an appropriate answer.

"Ghosts."

I was in the First Hospital of Haven for a week and my family flew down to see me, relieved that I was alive. Mom and I wept for Luc Arc,

I managed to get in touch with Haven's Headmaster and told him about Salem being the new Mistress of Grimm. That got the attention of the Guardians of Remnant pretty damn fast.

I was interrogated by several members, including the Headmaster of Beacon, who was sympathetic to my plight and promised to preserve my job at the academy. They were horrified by the revelation that they hadn't even succeeded in ridding our world of a Grimm Queen, they merely sowed the seeds for another. Our world was still in danger. I was sworn to secrecy, but I've been permitted to tell Luc's kids, as they deserve to know how their father died. So to whoever reads this, don't go telling anyone.

I managed to make it back to Vale in time for Luc's funeral, though I did manage to give my condolences to Kitaj's family over the phone. Afterward, Morgan Arc gave me her father's journal, telling me to write down what had happened, and I hope I have done a passable job relating the end of this nightmare to you.

No. It's not the end.

The last Grimm Queen lived for hundreds of years, and Salem is still out there. Last I knew, the Guardians still don't have the slightest clue as to where she is, and as long as she's out there, Remnant is in danger.

I hope that the future generations who find this journal will find a way to destroy her.

Good luck. This is Ozma Ozpin, signing off for Luc Arc.

* * *

With a shaky hand, Jaune slammed the journal shut and looked up at his friends.

Pyrrha was looking at him with a stunned look on her face. Nora was holding onto Ren for dear life, and Ren was holding her, failing to hide his own fear, while Taiyang covered his mouth to hide his expression, but his subtly quivering legs gave him away.

Velvet's ears were drooping as she sat on Yatsuhashi's lap, her arms wrapping tightly around his neck as his eyes were wide, surprised at the effectiveness of the story. Fox, surprisingly, didn't even try to hide how the story spooked him, with a dropped jaw and wide eyes. Coco had gone pale, her lock of caramel colored hair dropping down in front of her right eye as she clasped her hands together tightly.

Scarlet was hiding behind Sun, making little high-pitched whimpers. For his part, the Monkey Faunus looked shocked, but also a bit thrilled. Sage buried is head in his hands, rubbing his eyes and pretending to be tired, while Neptune was on the verge of fainting.

Qrow was pale, shaky, and stunned.

Ruby and Weiss were holding onto each other tightly, their eyes wide with terror and the Schnee girl was paler than ever. Penny was slightly vibrating and had had gotten out two of her swords, just in case, while Zwei had curled up into a shivering ball in between Ruby and Penny. Yang and Blake, both equally scared by the story, grasped each other's hands tightly, while Yang's robotic hand was gripping on the arm of the couch so tightly it threatened to crush it.

"Dude, what the hell?" Asked Sage.

"What in the world made you think it would be a good idea to tell that at the party, Arc? You absolute dolt!" Cried Weiss before she buried her face into Ruby's neck.

"Can't deny you're right about that." Jaune relented.

"That was, without a doubt, of of the most terrifying stories I've ever heard." Fox commented as he leaned back in his chair, trying to calm himself.

"I was hunted by the Nuckelavee, lost my parents, have fought countless Grimm, nearly lost my friends...yet that story is truly horrifying." Ren voiced.

"I gotta say, Jauney, you did not disappoint." Said Yang with a nervous grin.

"Yeah," Agreed Blake before adding "Yang, you're crushing my hand."

"Oh crap, sorry!"

"If this is what being 'spooked' is like, I'm not sure if I enjoy it!" Exclaimed Penny.

"Look guys, I'm sorry for sharing this. I just...when my parents showed me this book, I thought you guys deserved to know about it." Jaune worded, a bit ashamed of himself.

"It's all right," Said Pyrrha as she got up, "I suppose that after everything I went through, it wasn't that bad...but still, just tone it down a bit next time, okay?"

"Yeah Jaune. Or how about when you find an old family journal with a horrible secret written inside, how about you just hide it again?" Suggested a shivering Velvet.

"Arc...that was freaking terrifying. Good job." Coco admitted as she offered him a smile.

"W-well, I guess that, if anything, we at least know a little bit more about Salem now…" Ruby voiced, trying to look on the bright side of things.

"Yeah...and what we know is that she's even worse than we thought." Qrow said somberly.

"But she can be stopped," Said Ruby, making everyone look to her, "It's like Luc Arc said, he managed to hurt her with his sword, draw blood. If she can be killed."

Jaune, Pyrrha, Yang, and the others smiled, before Neptune meekly spoke up, "I guess that the story's silver lining. So, uh...time for bed?"

Everyone decided Neptune's suggestion was a very good one, and turned into the night.

"Uh...Weiss, do you mind if we bunk together?" Ruby asked nervously.

Weiss lifted up a sleeping eye mask turned around and saw Ruby standing there with big, scared eyes and a pleading expression. Penny stood behind her, looking unsure about the three of them being in one bed.

'It should be illegal for her to be that cute.' Weiss thought before saying "All right, get in."

Ruby zipped into the bed, throwing her own blanket over herself and Weiss. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Ruby said as she hugged Weiss tightly.

Yang laughed at the scene, before Penny spoke up to ask "What about me? I don't think all three of us will fit."

"Oh man! I'm such a dope!" Ruby said, smacking her forehead.

An idea popped into Yang's head, so she suddenly grabbed Weiss' mattress and with a strong pull, yanked it out of the bed and onto the floor.

"Argh! What is the matter with you?!" Cried a very annoyed Weiss.

"Yeah Yang, what's up?" Ruby wondered.

"Old sleepover bit I learned from my old classmates at Signal," Yang explained as she repeated the process with her own mattress, "Put two mattresses together, so we can all be close. You up for it, Blakey?" She asked her partner as Zwei took his place on a pillow above Ruby's head.

Blake, looking down on her team, smiled and said "Why not?"

She threw down her pillow and blanket and hopped down to join her team.

Meanwhile, Team SSSN had a similar idea, but with a tent made up of blankets and erected by their weapons.

"Is this such a good idea?" Neptune asked.

"You're the one who wanted us to sleep together, dork!" Sun remarked as he tried to get the blanket tied around Ruyi-Jingu Bang, his tail brushing against the now paranoid Scarlet, making him jump up and yelp.

In Team CFVY's Room, all four of the older students had piled on to Coco's bed, which was larger than the others.

"Thanks for letting us sleep here, Coco." Said Velvet.

"Holy crap this is comfortable," Muttered Fox.

"Just don't make me regret this." The Fashionista said

Velvet, snuggling close to Yatsuhashi, looked over to her nightstand where Alcyone's ball rested, and smiled, knowing the girl's spirit was at peace.

In Team JNRP's room, Jaune smiled as Pyrrha cuddled into him. "Scared?" He asked.

"Are you?" The redhead returned with a wry smile.

"A little." He confessed.

"Me too." Pyrrha said as she held onto him tighter, kissing him on his neck like the vampire she had dressed as.

Nora snuggled into her boyfriend and then asking him a sincere question, "Hey Renny, do you think your Semblance would work on Salem?"

Ren looked at her and answered "Maybe. I'm not sure. I don't really want to be in a position to find out."

"Good enough for me. Kiss goodnight?" Nora asked.

"Sure, I-" Ren was cut off as Nora stuffed a cherry string candy into his mouth. He looked at his energetic partner, who raised her eyebrows a few times as she began sucking in the candy string, getting closer to his head. Ren smiled, she never missed the opportunity for a string food kiss, and so he slowly sucked in the string too.

Outside in the commons room, Qrow and Taiyang lay on the sofas, with spare pillows and blankets lent to them by Team Beacon.

Taiyang moved to blow out the candle within the Jack O'Lantern, only for Qrow to say "Leave the light on."

Taiyang smirked as his old friend turned around on the couch to face the upholstery. "Spooked, Qrow?"

"No, I'm asleep." He answered.

Taiyang smiled and laid down on the couch, pulling the blanket over himself. He was soon asleep, just as Qrow peaked over to make sure Taiyang was still there.

The dusty Huntsman sat up and listened to the antics of his precious nieces and their friends. He laid his head down on the pillow and let the glow of the Jack O'Lantern offer him light as he eventually went to sleep.

**Happy Halloween**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys enjoyed this trilogy of terror!
> 
> The opening quote is from Ray Bradbury's Something Wicked This Way Comes, but I added a version of it from the movie (which has a lot of stuff not in the book that Bradbury sought to add and improve upon).
> 
> Man, this is the darkest thing I have ever written.
> 
> I think I messed up the timeline a bit in regards to when the Guardians of Remnant discovered Salem had survived and became the new Grimm Queen, in the main DoR story, but I think I'll edit the main story later to adhere to this.
> 
> Special acknowledgment to the works of Ray Bradbury, Peter Straub, R.L. Stine, Richard Matheson, Clive Barker and, of course, Stephen King.

**Author's Note:**

> Next Up: That meddling Team RWBY and their dog get into a mystery involving ghosts, monsters and a spooky mansion, in what will be the lightest of the three stories.
> 
> Again, give thanks to Cosmic Fiction for this first segment, the DOR version of the Apathy story.
> 
> And as to why the Apathy dragged the dogs and cats down into the sewers as well, I'd like to think that the Alpha of the Apathy was intelligent enough to know that the dead animals would be big warning signs to any potential victims, so they removed what animals they could, but they couldn't do anything about heavy ones like horses and cows.


End file.
